[Chris is me]

Originally Posted by ryaneogilvie

As the driver for this years robot, I never had to worry about tripping the main breaker during the match. LEDs or some indicators are useful but I've never had to pay attention to them because we have an efficient drivetrain, short wiring, and we are traction limited. I know last years robot had only 6 cims but that robot could trip the breaker because of the massive amount of chain which caused the drive train to be very inefficient and pull way more current than necessary. The caution we give is in the design: Direct drive and only one belt to the traction wheels allow the wheels to roll with little friction; Very short battery wires reduce the amount of current that needs to be drawn; and traction limited will avoid a complete stall of the motors that will surely pop the main breaker.

Just out of curiosity, what are each of your wheels geared for? I'm curious as to what kinds of current you're drawing when the wheels slip in each orientation, and I can estimate that from the drive free speed. I've been trying to figure out of the old 4 CIM rule of thumb for low gears ("traction limited at 40 amps") isn't conservative enough for 6+ motor drives, and I could use some data.