Hiding Drive Wires

Here’s another retroactive post about something I worked on a few months ago.

One of the challenges is passing the drive wires that goes from the ankle into the foot shell. Some people use the totally hidden/invisible method where slots are cut in the side of the ankle and foot shell very close to the bolt. Here’s an example of Wayne O’s setup using this method.

Space is tight and things have to be perfectly aligned or you run the risk of chopping the wires when the ankle pivots. It’s also virtually impossible to add grommets so over time my worry is that the wire may wear. edit 9/7/07 – Wayne just informed me that his setup above has been working fine for over a year and half without any problems or wear and tear.

I was on a time crunch and not sure if I was up to marking and cutting such precise slots, so I opted for the more conventional method of drilling holes in the foot shell just behind the ankle and corresponding hole in bottom of the ankle.

My wires are pretty think and by my calculation I needed a chunky grommet, but I couldn’t find anything suitable so had to improvise. Instead I used a short length of opaque tubing which passes through from the ankle into the leg. Not only does it protecting the wires it also hide them.

This is the inside of the Ankle

And the Foot Shell

Tube passing from the ankle into the foot shell

I also used the same hose in the top of the legs/shoulder to protect the wire as it passes into the body.

Posted by Chris on August 6th, 2007 in Electronics, Feet, Legs | 2 Comments

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2 Responses

  1. kampswas remarks on

    Chris you know what your supa smot, nice idea

  2. George "Chip" Luck remarks on

    I am using Wayne’s method for now. However, I think I’m going your route due to the fact I’m upgrading the motor wire AWG to a larger size. Good idea and keep up the good work Chris! Chip

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