Not sure it violates the rule, but not sure I’d want the controller wire crossings. That just asks for something to get tangled which I’d avoid.
I think a more likely scenario would be for both teams to maintain their relative position and slide left/right based on where they are during the match. For instance, the captain drive team moves farther to the right in their area to allow the 1st pick to slide over to get a better view – so the hangar isn’t blocking – during most of the match. Then at the end, the first pick moves further to the left to allow the captain to slide into their area a bit to see/line up for the climb.
The idea is more about if the captain really wants to play the far side of the field because it’s their forte, but from the center station they have the worst view of it.
Reading the blue box and going by what it says, I’d say of the two possible places for each driver to be in your picture, the “close” position is OK, but the “far” position is not.
set of COMPONENTS and MECHANISMS used by the DRIVERS and/or HUMAN PLAYERS to relay commands to the ROBOT
It would appear to include any handheld devices connected to it used to control the robot.
In your picture, the drivers are not in the driver station assigned to them, but are still holding and using part of the OPERATOR CONSOLE
Therefore, I think that this situation is outside the letter of the rules.
Furthermore, the blue box clarifies that a drive team member using the operator console more than half a driver station width away from their own would be in violation of the rules, so the closer position would maybe be ok, but the far position would not.
This situation is also likely against the spirit of the rules, also clarified in the blue box. Wires extending between multiple driver stations are trip hazards.
The head ref for our first event was at our week 0 scrimmage, and we got to talk about this rule with him extensively. Our drive team had noted that during climbing and sometimes for looking at field blind spots it was good to be able to move around. Any of your players are able to move anywhere in the designated alliance area.
But, the controllers connected to your console may not move more than half way into the neighboring driver station. This is a safety rule, and exists purely to prevent entangling of cables which leads to people or equipment damage. (opinions ahead) Attempts to skirt the spirit of the rule, like the example above of criss-crossing cables would not be looked upon favorably. Especially since the intent is to effectively play in a different DS from the one where you are assigned. The ref said there isn’t anyone assigned to monitor the drive teams for violations of this rule during the match. So if you’re trying to quickly peek into a blind spot to pick up a ball, and accidentally go a few inches too far into the neighboring DS, you’re unlikely to draw a penalty. But, if you’re obviously trying to play from another DS than the one you’ve been assigned, you’re just asking to be penalized. Note that the penalty isn’t just a few penalty points, from which you might recover. It’s being disabled, which could swing the results of the match. I doubt the risk is worth the reward.
