Robotic Cables: Maintenance and Replacement

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 877−762−6881.