[jee7s]

Originally Posted by codedr

I learned that if the battery cables can be rocked back and forth at the battery or at breaker, they are too loose and will cause high current draws that shutdown the robot.

Unless those wires shorted to each other, that's probably not what was happening. Assuming everything was taped over as it should be per the rules and the inspection checklist, the loosening of your connections was increasing the resistance at those connections. Higher resistance with the same current (P=IR) means more power dissipated. More power dissipated means the main breaker heats up, and since it's a thermally tripped device, it opens faster shutting down your robot.

Either that or it's really loose and wiggly and you intermittently lose power. Even a fraction of a second will reset the RoboRIO and Radio.

It's a problem that pops up occasionally that often gets the attention of FTAs and Robot Inspectors due to the random shutdown. A bit of diligence when tightening and some lock washer (split, toothed, or other) will typically prevent such a problem. Although the extra pounding induced by the game this year may have challenged even those preventative measures.