A situation that occurs fairly regularly in competition is that of a novice team that is missing the locking tab in their VEXnet Joystick Controller game port. They start a match and during driver control mode the cable becomes uplugged. Should the team be prohibited by the referees from plugging the cable back in? It is understood that during autonomous mode unplugging directly or indirectly is prohibited.
This has occurred at an event causing the the team not to be able to plug back in and compete fully during autonomous from the period of the cable becoming unplugged and end of driver control.
As you mentioned, drivers are not allowed to unplug or re-plug during the Autonomous Period. However, there are no restrictions on unplugging or re-plugging during the Driver Control Period.
After further review, we need to provide a revision to this answer.
As you mentioned, drivers are not allowed to unplug or re-plug during the Autonomous Period. However, there are no restrictions on unplugging or re-plugging during the Driver Control Period for the purposes of technical troubleshooting.
However, driving with an unplugged Joystick, intentionally unplugging it to receive a strategic advantage, or driving a Robot after the Match has ended for any reason could be considered a violation of <S1>. A team who is unable to plug their Joystick back in should be Disabled and cease driving the Robot