Rule G6 states:
<G6> During a Match, the Drive Team Members must remain in their Alliance Station. Drive Team Members are not allowed to use any sort of communication devices during their Match. Devices with communication features turned off (e.g. a phone in airplane mode) are allowed.
Some non-relevant portions of the following rule have been deleted for brevity.
*<G5> Drive Team Members may only touch the Team’s controls, Robot, and Scoring Objects at specified times during a Match as per <G5a> and <SG3>. Drive Team Members are prohibited from making intentional contact with any Scoring Object, Field Element or Robot during a Match, with the exception of the contact specified in <G5a> and <SG3>.
a. During the Driver Controlled Period, Drive Team Members may handle their own Robot if no part of the robot has moved at all during the Match. The type of fixes that are allowed are limited to the following:
a. Turning the Robot on or off
b. Plugging in a battery and/or power expander
c. Plugging in a VEXnet Key
d. Turning the power expander on or off
(…)*
At a tournament Saturday, a team discovered that they had brought the wrong joystick to the field, and they could not control their robot. I don’t know why they and/or the referee did not check the status lights. They asked the head referee if they could send someone to the pits to get the correct joystick and he responded that they could not, based on G6. Similarly, the referee would not permit another team member to approach the field because only the drive team is supposed to be at the field during a match (the definition of “Drive Team Member” certainly suggests that other team members may NOT be at the field).
Does G6 preclude a drive team member from leaving the alliance station for this kind of purpose during a match?
Thanks.