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Unread 09-02-2012, 00:56
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DampRobot DampRobot is offline
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AKA: Roger Romani
FRC #0100 (The Wildhats) and FRC#971 (Spartan Robotics)
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Re: Wiring the turret

Quote:
Originally Posted by Jon Stratis View Post
Attach all the wires on the turret to a common point on the turret, and run them all together from there (you can use zip ties, wire mesh, split tubing, or other ways to do this). From that single point, you'll have an attachment point that closely matches it when the turret it halfway through its rotation. At this halfway point, you'll have the most loose wire to deal with - rotating either direction from there will pull the wire and decrease/eliminate looseness as you get to the two extremes.
We are doing something very similar. We too have a rotating turret with the balls running up the middle, so we can't run the wire there. We are putting all our wires in mesh tubing type thing (sort of like a finger trap), and running them together to a single point on the turret. To deal with the loose wire, we are using a tool balancer from McMaster to pull the loop of wire down.

We did look into slip rings, and they were extremely expensive. I'm not sure there's a huge benefit to having unlimited rotations anyway. As long as you have 370+ degrees of rotation, you will be able to aim in any direction. Simply "untwist" as needed.