Servo Wire Damage

[RN1_Humanoid]

Hi All, I noticed today that some of the wires from the servos were becoming damaged (trapped between the sharp edges of the brackets), ive seen some wire protectors in a number of RN1 pictures does anyone know where i can pick up the wire protectors in the UK? , and does this problem affect anyone else?

Thanks.

[Bullit]

Yes. Be carefull with that. Shorts can cause a fire or damage your servos, controller or battery.
I use braided sleeving
It takes a little finnese to weld the ends nicely with a soldering iron and a tapered punch but it really protects the wires. It does make them a little stiffer and thicker though so you will need to readdress how the cables are mounted to your robot. The stock RN-1 cable straps are whimpy and not large enough. I cut up an 1 liter soda bottle and make new straps and then I put in larger screws to hold them down.

I hope this helps.

[RN1_Humanoid]

Thanks Bullit, is there a specific size of brading that you use?

[Bullit]

I use almost exclusively the 1/8"




It stretches quite a bit. Most important part is properly finishing the ends so they don't fray. I found a nice way to do it with a soldering iron and a tapered punch.

[tinman1]

Wow Bullit!
That looks great. Functional and visually pleasing. I work in the aircraft manufacturing industry, we have that same flex wire shielding we use for the wire bundles. Looks like I'll need to stop by the wire shop tomorrow and scrounge the bins for left overs.
I thought the soda bottle tie downs were a clever idea too. Now we can claim our hobby/obsession is also eco-friendly.
Tinman

[engineer]

another thing to look out for is putting the brackets on with the long tab toward the moving wire like some of the above.the screw heads should be above on the ankle and down at the hips that way the bracket doesn't chop the servo cable at full servo travel. The servo lead definitly should be trained away from these pinch points. The neater they are done the better protected the leads will be. Good luck, I think I've put RN! together at least five or six times, and next SONAR.

[RN1_Humanoid]

Thanks for the info guys, im definately going to review my wiring

[botmen]

me and my friend tried another way by grinding a small portion of the bracket just to clear the servo wires and protect them from being stripped permanently without having to rewire the rn1.unfortunately,i cannot post the pics of our bots now,but will try to post them some other time.

[i-Bot]

It is still worth considering using some protection on the wires. The second most likely damage is when a wire is caught on a sharp metal edge during a fall. Either as it hits the floor or another part of the body. Amazing how sharp a cut it makes.

I also use small adhesive rubber feet to cushion the fall and give some clearance at strategic body locations.

Yes, we fall over a lot !