Robotic Cables: Maintenance and Replacement

Robot cables are so important to the robot system as they provide the passage of information in and around the robot. The cables on a robot can be internal or external as they provide the connections between the controller, base, joints, and EOAT. It is important to conduct proper preventive maintenance to prolong their life and the service life of the robot.

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Cables are the arter­ies of robot­ic sys­tems — with­out them the robot can’t func­tion. Depend­ing on the mod­el, robot­ic cables are rout­ed exter­nal­ly or inter­nal­ly. They pro­vide con­nec­tions between the con­troller and the base, the robot joints, and the EOAT.

When it comes to robot­ic cabling, prop­er pre­ven­tive main­te­nance is very impor­tant. It makes sense to find and solve cabling prob­lems before they cause a tem­po­rary stop in pro­duc­tion. Some envi­ron­ments are hard­er on robot­ic cabling than oth­ers. Foundry and weld­ing set­tings can be dam­ag­ing to cabling. In the way, appli­ca­tions that require quick repet­i­tive move­ments will be more wear­ing than others.

What to Remem­ber with Inter­nal Cabling

Check your robot­ic cables peri­od­i­cal­ly for wear­ing or cracks. Inspect your inter­nal cabling at each joint, where it is most under stress.

What to Remem­ber with Exter­nal Cabling

Exter­nal robot­ic cabling should fol­low nat­ur­al path­ways, typ­i­cal­ly down the length of the robot arm so it does­n’t inhib­it move­ment or get in the way. Pre­vent cost­ly dam­age to your exter­nal cabling by rout­ing it off the ground when pos­si­ble, out of traf­fic pat­terns, and away from EOAT and parts. Fur­ther­more, cable length should be tak­en into con­sid­er­a­tion as well. Cables that are too long tend to snag more easily.

Care­ful Integration:

Robots​.com’ sales and inte­gra­tion experts will find the right cabling for your needs. When you pur­chase a robot­ic work­cell from us, we’ll make sure the cabling is rout­ed cor­rect­ly and safe­ly. We’ll work with your appli­ca­tion and mod­el to choose the best cabling for the job (high flex or stan­dard for example).

Robots​.com offers a vari­ety of robot­ic cabling options for low prices. Con­tact Robots​.com for replace­ment robot­ic cables online or at 8777626881.

Nov 10, 2008