Cable rigging: Cascade vs. Continuous

[Madison]

It seems that the Whitepaper discuss links aren't yet working, so for reference, this thread is with respect to Christopher Hussman's Whitepaper here.

Specifically, it talks about methods of rigging cabling to raise and lower arm/lift mechanisms. I thought that, given this year's game, it might be useful to discuss the pros and cons of the two cabling systems discussed; cascade and continuous.

Cascade, apparently, has a higher cable tension than continuous. In teams' experiences, does it end up being significantly higher such that one can't switch from continuous to cascade without redesigning a mechanism?

I've been helping prototype a telescoping device and we've noted that the cable tension in our continuous-style rigging seems very high and that there's increased resistance to moving the middle stage -- just as the whitepaper suggests. We were considering adapting this design to use cascade style rigging to, perhaps, make moving the middle stage a bit less...eratic, but were hesitant to do so without learning more about cascade-style rigging and its problems.

I thought that it might be valuable for teams to share some of their uncommon wisdom about these varied sorts of cable rigging systems. Share away

(I've been away from CD and without internet access, since kickoff. If there's already been a thread that discusses cable rigging specifically, please kindly point it out. Thanks.)