Improved wiring harness

[rraetz]

Hello all. I already posted this on Discord, but, although getting upvotes, I did not receive any answers. We have bought two OpenArms from WowRobo a while ago. While I think that they made a great effort in wiring the robot and already substantially improved the original wiring, the entire cable/wiring situation of our arms is getting a bit frustrating in my laboratory. After using the robot arms for a while, we just got a short circuit due to a worn off cable insulation between joint 3 and joint 4. Moreover, the cabling situation i often critiqued when we show the robots to visitors of our laboratory as it looks unprofessional. Alternative robot arms, e.g., the Agilex robots have much cleaner wiring solutions.

I wanted to ask if anybody is already working on an improved wiring harness or if anybody would be interested in helping to find a solution? It may sound like a detail, but I believe that this is an extremely important detail for the future of the OpenArm project

[zbyneksmal-create]

Hi, I think the issue might not only be the insulation itself, but also cable strain and repeated bending around the joint.

A simple heat-shrink tube can help as a temporary repair, but for a long-term solution I would consider:

more flexible silicone wires,
a braided sleeve or spiral wrap around the cable bundle,
proper strain relief near the moving joint,
and rerouting the cable so it does not bend or rub at one sharp point.

The photo looks like the cable insulation failed because of movement/friction, so a better harness should probably focus on mechanical protection and flexible cable routing, not only electrical insulation.

Just my practical view — I agree this detail is important, especially if the arms are used in a lab or shown to visitors. Good Luck with all.

[rraetz]

Hi. Thank you for your response. Yes, I fully agree with your assessment of the situation.

Heat-shrink tube, sleeves or wraps would only be temporary fixes. I would also prefer to find mechanical solutions. We currently removed most of the covers to give the cables more space, as we were not yet able to find a good re-routing or mechanical protection solution to avoid cable strain.