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I think choosing the right cables or wires for your robot is important part of designing a reliable robot. Is there something out there that is popular for high abrasion endurance, stretchable, flexible and thin? Many kinds of regular electronic wire are not as stretchable. They will break off especially when used with motors working as long arms and the wires are connected far away and under constant swinging motion.
Any info is appreciated.
thanks!
Flexible is usually MULTI strand.
http://www.wsdeans.com/products/wire/index.htmlhttp://www.wsdeans.com/products/wire/index.html
Youll need to define thin.
(Message edited by woody on May 15, 2007)
We use General Silicones 6mm2 Ultimate wire (Most Model shops sell this) for our heavy and I think they have 512 strands so are ultra flexible, making wiring alot easier but silicone isnt a very tough insulation but a soldering Iron wont melt it.
Be warned if you only use 6mm2 wire when drawing over 100Amps as the wires will get very hot, we use parrellel wiring from the 3 battery packs to the link to share the current but the wires need to be the same length to share the current equally.
It really all depends if you can tolerate the heat and power loss in thinner wiring, Search the internet for wire sizes and you can easily find charts giving temperature rise & power loss for different lengths and cross sectional area which will help you select the correct wire.
This is the stuff to use
http://www.multi-contact.com/AcroFiles/Kataloge/TM/Cable_hi.pdfhttp://www.multi-contact.com/AcroFil...M/Cable_hi.pdf
Storm II uses it throughout the robot. Look at Page 20 - Silistrom.
Ed
http://www.teamstorm.comhttp://www.teamstorm.com
(Message edited by storm on May 16, 2007)
15A mm² is the max tolerated for short times for the best industrial wire.
So, 100A for a 6mm² is sleightly over what industrialy is tolerated.
But heat is a loss. I would say, go for 10mm² for the main powerleads.
Thank you for your replies!
For now, Im researching on what€™s out in the market. Anything exotic is good too! Has anyone seen other types of unique cables besides regular stranded wires?
What I am more interested in is something that is thin maybe less than 24 awg and not just flexible but something elastic. High abrasion resistance is good too. Current ratings are good to know, but not important.