[The Lucas]

First be thankful that this problem hasn't cause your Robot Controller to enter Safe Mode during the voltage drop (when the voltage is lower than radio needed voltage). That happened to MOEhawk at VCU about every match until we re-geared it. The only way to get out of safe mode is to reset.

If you need to run your compressor, run it only when your drive system is in neutral, such as after autonomous routine has executed (takes like 5 sec for your fast bot) or when the joystick is in the deadzone (just add the compressor to the deadzone code). The compressor is notorious for surging at turn on (lil' MOE blows a 20A fuse at every event). As tjrage_25 mentioned before the compressor can run on a speed controller so u can implement a digital filter to bring it up to speed, avoiding the surge. Also, make sure the pressure switch is not bouncing on u turning it on and off rapidly. We always put a delay before we turn off so the pressure will not instantly drop below 120 psi after turn off.

For your Van Door Motor powered arms u might want to try the dynamic braking feature of the Victor speed controllers. Pull off (or set to AB) the jumper on the Victor (normally set to BC for coast) to select dynamic breaking mode. These settings only affect the behavior of the speed controller in neutral (PWM 127). Dynamic braking works by connecting the 2 leads of the motor together, essentially causing there to be no voltage across the motor thus no movement (think of it as forced movement on the motor generating a voltage that is fed back into the motor to drive it the opposite direction of the motion). This dynamic brake is not 100% efficient (mostly due to wire resistance), but depending on the force needed to backdrive your gearing and the moment of inertia of the arm it may work. So try the dynamic braking, since it only requires a simple jumper and code change, and it may solve your current draw problem by not running the van door constantly (also save u from van door burnout).

I like your proverb
"that which doesn't kill us makes us stronger. NOTHING comes easy for team 25"

Here is a proverb I came up with while fixing MOEhawk's wings
"He who takes everything from everybody is going to lose an arm in the process"

Good Luck. See you in Houston and probably about 5 invitationals after that.