Why are you penalised when sprinting during a RoboPacer ride? Twice now I have been on a ride with them, going along collecting my drops at 2.5 level, when a sprint comes up. The pacer gets left behind & just doesn’t catch up no matter how slow you try to go resulting in dropping back to 1 drop. And yes, I’ve tried letting them get 2 or 3 seconds ahead but caught them easily & still lost the level. Most frustrating.
Go even slower. Stop completely if necessary. Use brakes if you have them. Ride with a faster RP if you need to.
pick a faster pace partner
These rides are advertised as paced group rides. So no, you’re not really supposed to sprint if you want to stay with the group.
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Which robopacer are you riding with? If you aren’t already, go with Constance group when the really fast riders are at the front of that group.
But maybe you are right, the robopacers could do with a sprint capability, maybe even chase down breakaways at the front. I can just see some folks making mischief with that feature! It could be used to push the pace much faster before the point when someone is planning to do a sprint… 
The others are right, they are intended to be at a generally steady pace, even though it doesn’t seem like it at times when there is lots of surging.
Slow down before the sprint zone to place yourself behind the pack, then use the sprint zone to catch back up.
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“Are we not supposed to sprint when using Robopacers” - No. The key aim is learning to maintain the target pace.
Robo pacer rides are liberty hall. Everybody does whatever they want. Some people want a steady ride, others do not.
In that case it’s a pity they don’t take them out or make them unavailable, as they do in training rides.
I’ve been trying that but I keep misjudging it, hence back to square one with the drops. More practice required.
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I usually go with the 1.8wkg-2.2wkg groups, they’re about my limit for a two hour ride. It’s just a pity the way it’s set up as I just fancy a sprint sometimes to have a bit of a change up during the paced ride. No i find myself trying, and failing, to gauge how far to drop back before surging to the line.
Nothing wrong with fancying a sprint.
Who says it has to be the sprint identified in Zwift? Especially since the zone of the drops multiplier varies depending on group size.
Make it your own little sprint.
Just fall back until you get the “Rejoin Robopacer” popup.
Sprint until you get the “Rejoin Robopacer” popup again.
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Pretty much this.
Robopacers are just that, robots to help you keep a certain pace while riding, same thing as the pacers you see in marathons. It’s designed around keeping a steady power output / speed, so sprinting is basically the complete opposite of what the system is designed for 
But as people have mentioned, it’s possible to “game” the system by dropping back and then sprinting to the front. This is why I’m very glad I got my Core v1 with the play controllers (they have brakes!) vs the Click v2’s. If I feel like a sprint, I do this and then slam on the brakes after the finish line and then pedal slowly while the group catches up.
Cheers
Everyone can do what they like but if you want the pack to catch you after a sprint either join a faster Robo group or start the sprint from the back of the pack. The back of the pack is by far the best, you get to stay in the draft which you will probably need to beat a PB. I have a never to repeated sprint on Tempus I think it was, a B Cat Robo group turned in front of me from the left hand side, stayed in the draft the whole way.
Robopacers are just robots. They aren’t there to help you do anything. They ride at their programmed pace, and anyone else is free to leverage their ‘existence’ in any way they feel like.
It’s all good advice if
A. The pacers kept to the same pace, we all know they don’t. and
B. I could stop myself going for the PB when the clock starts ticking in the sprint, I can’t.
As I’ve said more practice required.