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The idea of having something turn the breaker on if it gets turned off is pretty easy to do with this year's kit.
All that is really needed is the Parker manual 2-way plug valve (see the pneumantics kit list #PV609-2) and a cylinder.
I think you could have the motion of the breaker's switch going from 0N to OFF activate this manual valve. You could then have a cylinder push the switch back to the ON position.
If during a match the breaker tripped, poof, poof, your back in business.
You would need something to disable this feature so you could actually turn power off when you really wanted power off, but I should think that would be too hard.
Would it be legal? I suppose that it would be. I know of no rule regarding this.
Of course, doing this is slightly dangerous on two counts. First because you are putting an air cylinder right where your fingers are likely to be very often. Second because if you have a true need for the breaker to trip, the breaker would keep getting turned back on (not exactly the textbook workings of a safety device!). Are these risks beyond the normal risks associated with FIRST type activities? I suppose not.
More importantly, is all this worth the bother? I think not. We have always had the ability to pull more current than the breaker was rated for. To my knowledge, no team has had any significant problems with the breaker tripping falsely.
I doubt that teams will have such problems this year either.
Joe J.
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