Quick question! Our team is having a discussion about is it legal to run Pneumatic hose or wiring inside a frame structure of the bot. I guess they are trying to pretty up the wiring of the bot verses zip ties along a 1x1 square tube.
Yes.
But…
Make sure your stuff is well labeled, has sufficient slack where needed, is harnessed where needed, and you’re using grommets or surgical tubing around the openings you create to run the wiring and tubing. Never allow wiring to be strained.
You will also want to keep inspection and maintenance in mind when running wiring through any frame members. Make sure all wires are clearly labeled with the correct size somewhere that will be visible to an inspector.
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Do you mean running the wires inside the aluminum tube? If so, I think it’s legal, but may or may not be wise, depending on how easy it might be to follow wires/tubing while troubleshooting, or replace them if needed. Also you’d want to make sure there are no sharp edges where the stuff enters the tube, so there won’t be any wires/tubing getting cut
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It’s legal, but might not be the best in terms of repairability. As long as there’s no connectors that are inaccessible (including solder joints) inside the tube I think you’ll be ok. Labeling is important.
Bottom line, yes, but be cautious.
Yes inside aluminum tube. It will be a continuous run of 7mm pneumatic tubing.
As long as you’re content that you either won’t have to replace it, or can replace it easily enough if needed, it should work. And it will make the robot look better.
It may be a good idea to label any tubes that have wires or pneumatic tubing running through them. One year, on my son’s team, they ran the wires for the intake motor through one of the arms. A very enthusiastic team member drilled through the arm to attach something without checking first, drilling partly through the motor wires, causing them to short to each other. We had to run a new set of wires to fix it.
kmw,
There is no rule against it. Passing wires through a pipe is what got me started on the electrical team in 1997. Mechanical team drilled through the wires and produced all kinds of issues.
I am just going to state this for the others, never make a splice of any kind inside the tube or pipe. The wire that goes in better be the wire that comes out the other end. The same for pneumatic tubing, unless you have to make a tap and then the tubing should be open and big enough to allow for repairs.
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Running pneumatic tubing inside a frame member is legal, but your 7mm tubing isn’t. R77 sets the max tubing size as 1/4“ or 6mm.
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