Workcell Update! [Is it safe to "braid" wires?]

Hi @Lauren_Harter and @Matthew_Goodwin !
My students have made awesome progress with the V5 Workcell thanks to your help. We have the bearing plate reassembled and attached properly, and the arm is now mounted back on the workcell platform. We will be ready to master it and start testing on Monday!

@Matthew_Goodwin I do have a specific question for you. Take a look at the picture below. My wire management specialist decided to braid the wires. He braided three of them, then wrapped a the fourth around the braid. I think he should undo the braid, keep the wires straight and zip tie them. What do you think?

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Hi @Molly_Gomes! So glad to hear the build was adjusted and going to be tested on Monday!

I’ll let Matt answer about the wiring because i’m not quite sure! :slight_smile: from my experience, i’ve seen most people use zip ties and electrical tape for wire management.

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@Molly_Gomes I agree with you, the wires should be kept straight and not braided as this will increase the likelihood of a wire to fail. The extreme bending of a Smart Cable (in this case braids) will cause the internals of the wire to be stretched much more than anticipated, and may cause early failure of the wire.
Although braiding the wires seems a clever way to keep things tidy, I’d recommend reducing the strain on the wires (like you mentioned) and simply zip tie them. There are some pretty fancy wire management tricks to explore, such as zip tying the 3-Wire extension cables in a way that the connection point is visible and secure, so keep me updated with what the specialist achieves!

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