[EricH]

I also would be in favor of such a compromise. To a point (there has to be a reasonable limit, or some of us get a pass to a place where every room is padded).

I would suggest the following: Each team may unbag their robot up to 3 times per week, for a grand total of 10 hours (remember the FIX-IT Windows from a few years back, guys? and how you had to use some ridiculous amount of time in one or two shots before they changed it?).

To add complexity (and therefore decrease chances of this part being used...), your withholding allowance decreases proportionally to the amount of time you spend unbagged. If, for example, a team uses none of that time, they can show up with 40 lbs of withholding. BUT, if a team uses ALL of that time, they can show up with 10 lbs (that means, for every hour you spend out of the bag, you lose 3 lbs of withholding, in this example). Teams who crate their robots and ship get 40 lbs for that regional event, 20lbs for Championships. First item on the inspection list is to check the time on the lockup form and the amount of withholding.