Experimental validation method of elastic thin rod model for simulating the motional cable harness

To analyze the spring disturbance torque caused by motional cable harness in a stabilized platform, the Kirchhoff theory based cable harness model has been previously developed to dynamically simulate the motional cable harness. In this paper, this model was validated by comparing the simulation results with the experiment results (both the spring force and the deformed profile of the motional cable harness). In the experiment, a special optical measuring instrument based on binocular vision was developed and the motion and deformation of cable harness were measured. A simplified stabilized platform system was constructed, and the absolute value of spring disturbance force during the motion of this simplified frame was obtained by using a force gauge (0.02 N precision). The physical parameters of experimental specimen were also measured. The experimental and simulated results showed good agreement. These results should be useful for better motional cable harness layout design and reliable evaluation of the spring disturbance torque.