Dale and other rookies,

Yes, your robot is allowed to stop in the field and be carried back to Base.

But there is a penalty.  It's independent of whether you completed a mission or not.  Rule 31 says, if the robot is completely outside Base when touched, then a roof debris object gets placed on the field (probably on the runway) in accordance with the Game Penalty mission. It's a much bigger penalty this year than it has been in the past.

The robot has to go back to Base if you change the program.  It can either drive back, or be rescued by hand.  If the team tries to influence the robot by changing its program while its out of Base, then by Rule 17, the robot has to come back to Base for a restart anyway.