Question about unlocking
 

Hi, my team has bagged and tagged out robot however we forgot to take pictures of the final thing. Who would I contact to ask if we would be allowed to unlock it to take pictures?

Re: Question about unlocking
 

You can take the robot out of the bag for display purposes as long as you don't work on it. It's an honor system after all.

Re: Question about unlocking
 

The only ones who can give you that permission is FIRST, through the standard frcteams e-mail. Note that the manual does not give permission for unbagging for pictures, but it does allow it for short durations for demonstration purposes (sponsor visit, school pep rally, that sort of thing). So, if you have something like that planned, you can unbag for it and take pictures then.

Re: Question about unlocking
 

Thanks for the help, we do actually have a sponsor coming over soon, so that works out pretty well.

Re: Question about unlocking
 

You must still contact FIRST to get permission and make sure you document the Unlock and Re-Lock on your Lock-Up form. I would also attach the email that FIRST sends to give permission to the Lock-Up form, just in case there are questions.

Re: Question about unlocking
 

I'm looking at 5.5.3 Robot Displays, and I don't see anything about contacting FIRST for permission for those. We didn't get permission last year for one, but maybe we are doing it wrong?

Re: Question about unlocking
 

Both last year and this year the rules have allowed for limited (up to four hours) unbagging for media/demonstration purposes, but you can not let your designated drive team drive it, as the practice they get would be in violation of the rules.

Re: Question about unlocking
 

I would rather be safe and email FIRST, its a quick email for them to confirm that it is ok. Why risk it?

Re: Question about unlocking
 

We did this - emailed FIRST - and the reply we got was to go read the manual - they did referred us to the specific paragraph. No specific permission or disallowance given... Just go read the manual.

Re: Question about unlocking
 

Because they specifically stated in the Admin Manual that it is OK to remove the robot from the bag for display.

As long as your tags match up on the form, and the form shows the out-of-bag, you're fine.

Re: Question about unlocking
 

We did an un-bag for a demo outside a local Boot Barn store last year (good fundraiser as well). One of the things we did to keep it from being "driver practice" was to have it driven by a team member who was not on the final drive team, but (to make a good demo) had done reasonably well in tryouts.