In evolution, the term exaptation describes the shift of function of a trait. One example is the feathers of birds, which may have evolved as thermal insulation, and were later adapted for flight.
That's a poncy way of saying I found a secondary function for one of Tardygrades parts.
The original part was devised for mounting the PCB.
Since I've been trying to avoid using any screws in the robot design, I didn't want to use any for mounting the PCB either. Instead I made a sliding block, a pair of which are used to secure the PCB on top of the robot.
A separate issue was that I hadn't come up with a good way to manage the servo cables, which are about five times as long as they need to be.
But after making the sliding blocks I realized I could re-purpose them to house the cable slack as well:
- The excess cable is pulled through a hole on top of the block and folded up inside.
- The block is slid in from the side. It has flanges at its base that fits cutouts in the upper body lid.
- The block snaps in place thanks to a small protrusion that fits a corresponding notch on the back of the block.
- The blocks overhanging lip holds the PCB in place. Neat!
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