I agree. Until now, a 'back of the envelope' calculation, or rough measurement, was enough to determine that we're OK with our power budget. As Al correctly noted, it's easy enough to draw several hundred Amps peak, and one can deplete a battery during a match to the point where the robot's performance is noticeably compromised.
So far we've been OK, but it would be an interesting twist to, say, run two matches in a row (like practice days) without allowing a battery swap. That might even allow teams to see more matches in a Regional...
Eric, good point that virtually all fuses and breakers have a so-called "Time-current" curve. A
typical automotive fuse can handle a 200% overcurrent for a brief time, or a 110% overcurrent for a very long time, and our Main Breaker is no different. But, Al was quoting 600 Amps+ Amps peak and 200 Amps
average for a match, neither of which I would expect to see passing through that particular breaker.
Don