In regards to <R17> “Teams must bring their robots to the field prepared to play. Teams who use VEX pneumatics must have their systems charged before they place the robots on the field” –
Once a team has placed their robot on their Alliance Starting tile prior to a match are they allowed to change a battery, replace a VEXnet key, add new rubber bands, etc., or is this only allowed prior to placing the robot on the field (as with charging pneumatics)?
I assume that once a match starts none of the above would be permitted, as changing a dead battery would not be considered a repair. Is this correct?
In general, once Robots are placed on the field, the referee no longer has to grant the team permission to make any sort modifications to their robot. However, we encourage our referees to be lenient in these types of situations in order to ensure that teams are given every opportunity to have their robots run, especially when tournaments are ahead of schedule.
So teams should bring their Robot to the field in a ready to compete state, however in many cases referees will allow teams some time to make quick changes.