[GreyingJay]

ToddF,

I don't disagree with anything you have said.

However, the goalposts have now been moved. The official word from FIRST, and the opinion of those who share your view, is essentially: "It's going to happen. Deal with it. There's velcro on the operator console for a reason."

But how many posts in this thread were from teams claiming they've used the velcro, and it still didn't help?

Use more velcro, you say. Use C-clamps. Do whatever it takes, anything, to secure that driver station. Zip ties. Bolts. Aluminum channel. Tape your cables together. Perform drop tests. Build a driver station capable of being dropped from the roof of your school.

This is all good advice and certainly I would expect every team to design for conditions much worse than they actually expect to see. But now we're seeing stories of impacts that have been so hard that they are literally damaging the field itself, causing lights, e-stops, and displays to fall off.

Are we just going to keep saying "hey, it'll happen" and tell teams to continue the arms race of build bigger and stronger driver stations? And, while we're at it, maybe redesign the fields so they can withstand stronger impacts? Those lights and e-stops really shouldn't be falling off that easily...

Or, you know, maybe an official ruling that says "hey guys, maybe there's a better way".

Overdesigning is always a good idea. Dealing with real-world conditions is always a good idea. But this is one set of real world conditions that could be changed for the better, and all it would take is a team update.