Would it be fine if a rubber band flew out when our robot triggered at the beginning of the match?
No, there is a rule that bans intentional disconnection.
“<G11> Robots may not intentionally detach parts during any Match, or leave mechanisms on the field. Minor violations of this rule that do not affect the match will result in a warning. Egregious (match affecting) offenses will result in a Disqualification. Teams that receive multiple warnings may also receive a Disqualification at the head referee’s discretion. Multiple intentional infractions may result in Disqualification for the entire competition.”
If it was used to keep your robot in size and you launch it out to flip out your intake or do some other task, then it would be illegal. If not and it was a pure accident, then you can probably pass it as an accident.
Our team gets around this by ziptie-ing the band to the robot. This way, it flies off, but stays attached to whatever piece of metal.
That’s so smart! I think I should do that to my rubber bands too.
This would be illegal, but you can consider tying one end of the rubber band to the robot somehow, and tying two rubber bands together to hold whatever (intake, fork…)
I don’t think it is illegal. I’ve seen non-contiguous rubber bands used to tie things together before for this exact purpose. The black surgical cord has to be tied down or together to form a loop.