DESIGN AND ASSEMBLY OF SEMI-AUTOMATED WIRE STRAND EXTRACTOR FOR 2-8 AWG WIRES

In this work, a semi-automated wire extractor machine is designed and assembled to replace the manual process of cable insulation reliability testing.The design of this work is based on the automotive industry wherein the sizes of wires vary from 2 -8 AWG with a length of 50 mm.It consists of three major parts: the control box which holds the limit switches, stepper motors, electrical/electronic wirings, the linear guide, and the pantograph grip.An Arduino Uno was used as the main control system which regulates the rate of wire extraction.The pantograph grip was designed and fabricated to suit the linear guide and control box.The performance of the assembled device was tested using the standards followed by the companyvisual testing and curve trace analysis for two types of wires Visual inspection shows that the wires passed the qualifications for reliability testing criteria such as insulation physical damage, corrugation, and twists on the insulation upon extraction.The curve trace analysis shows that the manual procedure resulted in a significant variation in the force curves and breaking points of sample replicates.According to the standard procedures, the difference in breaking point values between three replicates should be relatively close to pass the second test.The results taken from the elongation test using the semiautomated wire extractor shows consistent results and hence, considered as passed.The good reproducibility of results using the device ensures reduced working time and human errors in wire extraction which translates to efficient working performance.