[Al Skierkiewicz]

I would believe that the move to 40 amp breakers is in response to many teams complaining that the 30 amp breakers were tripping too often to allow reliable operation during a match. In robots during the past two years that were tripping 30 amp breakers, most often it was due to mechanical designs that demanded that motor be operated too far out on the power curve and robot designs that had extremely high frictions when the robot turned. In these case, even the 40 amp circuit breaker would not have changed things very much. The current draw on those robots still exceeded 80 amps per motor with peaks above that and many robots were tripping the 60 amp breaker.
All teams should be aware of the high currents that these motors can draw. Even with the 120 amp main and 40 amp motor circuit breaker allowed this year, some teams will still be tripping breakers. Each of these breakers can handle 200% of rated current continuous for only 15-20 seconds before trip. The main breaker will trip off at 200 amps after 10 seconds minimum to 30 seconds maximum. On the resettable breakers, once trip temperature has been achieved, lower currents will trip the breaker.
Having a design that calls for a gear ratio that gives extremely high speed on a flat surface will most assuredly run the drill motors to 90-100 amps on the ramp. A drive system that uses two drill motors with a low gear reduction, when in a pushing match will trip the main breaker well before the end of a match.