Robotics and phased array radars are some of the hottest and most critical technologies in industrial and military applications today. They both require reliable interconnect solutions for proper operation in extreme, rugged environments. This article will introduce you to Samtec's cable and connector solutions for robotics and radar applications.
Flexible micro discrete wires can meet the application requirements of robots
Many occupations pose challenges for human workers. Some are too dangerous, repetitive or uneconomical in the long term. In many instances, robots are replacing human workers to drive efficiency and reduce cost. Many industrial robots are used in production lines in manufacturing factories. Other application fields include injection molding, construction, oil drilling, ore mining, space exploration, underwater exploration, toxic substance cleaning, search and rescue, medicine, military and many others. With the rapid development of artificial intelligence (AI), humanoid robots will soon assist human beings with basic housework in thousands of households.
Robots typically repeat the same movements; this can severely test the cables and connectors found in robotic components. Samtec, the industry's leading cable and connector manufacturer, has introduced a series of flexible micro discrete wire. The 1.00 mm pitch MICRO MATE™ cable system is ideally suited for robotics applications. The MICRO MATE™ cable system supports cable-to-board, cable-to-cable, and cable-to-panel applications. Other features of MICRO MATE™ cable system include:
- Crimp-style dual leaf contact system
- Reliable connections
- Low profile design, with a minimum of 3.2 mm
- Single-row or double-row design
- Supports up to 40 pins
- Offers 28 and 30 American wire gauge (AWG) cable options for polyvinyl chloride (PVC) or Teflon®
- Supports 3.3 A/pin using 28 AWG wire
- A variety of socket and terminal assemblies
- Rugged positive latching for increased retention
- Vertical or right-angle mating terminal strip
- Assembly tools available
Samtec's 1.00 mm pitch MICRO MATE™ family consists of a number of options:
- S1SS/S1SST for single row socket cable assembly
- T1SS/T1SST for single row terminal cable assembly
- T1PS/T1PST for single row terminal cable assembly of panel mounting
- S1SD/S1SDT for double row socket cable assembly
- T1SD/T1SDT for double row terminal cable assembly
- T1PD/T1PDT for double row terminal cable assembly of panel mounting
Mid-board optics interconnection solution for phased array radar application
Phased array radar uses groups, or arrays, of antennas. Individual antenna elements can be activated to optimize the strength and direction of the wireless signal. At the same time, other antenna elements are deactivated to help suppress unwanted signals. This overall approach to antenna operation improves the effectiveness of the radar. At present, many naval warships use phased array radar systems. Phased array radar is used on warships for surface detection and tracking (looking for ships), air detection and tracking (looking for aircraft and missiles), and missile uplink capability.
For military phased array radar applications, Samtec has introduced the FireFly™ Micro Flyover System™. FireFly offers a future-proof inside-the-box mid-board optics interconnection solution with performance of up to 28 Gbps per lane and a path to 56 Gbps. It uses the same high-performance connector set for either copper cable or optical cable. It improves signal integrity and increases signal path length to meet the data rate requirements of today and tomorrow. With industry-leading miniature footprint, FireFly™ supports greater density and closer proximity to the IC, thus realizing chip-to-chip, board-to-board, on-board or system-to-system connectivity.
FireFly™ standard features include:
- Future Proof with interchangeable copper and optical systems
- Highest density - 4:1 space savings of QSFP solutions
- Ease of routing - Two-piece board level interconnect system isolates signals and power
- Ease of assembly with no compression systems
- Supports x4 bidirectional and x12 unidirectional configurations
- Integral heat sink
- Rugged features like weld tabs, latches and loading guides
Samtec's FireFly™ offer a variety of solutions including commercial FIREFLY™ for most common applications. PCI EXPRESS®-Over-Fiber Cable System are used for high density applications such as broadcast video, high performance computing (HPC), high-frequency trading and disaggregated computing. Extended Temperature FireFly™ offers a temperature range of -40℃ to +85℃. This makes it ideally suited for military, aerospace, and industrial applications.
Samtec also offers several FireFly™ evaluation and development kits. Design by Samtec, these kits simplify design and reduce time to market Options include:
- 28 Gbps FireFly™ evaluation kit
- 14 Gbps FireFly™ FMC development kit
- 25/28 Gbps FireFly™ FMC+ development kits
- ECUE Flyover® SI evaluation kits
