MINNEAPOLIS , 15 Aug. 2012. Omnetics has launched a cable design for micro-wire harnesses in miniature electronics, including systems in unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), military sensor system detectors, and processors for mine-detection, portable camera, and surveillance modules.
“Today’s UAVs, faced with extreme conditions, are demanding minimum-weight miniature electronics to achieve increased payload and flight times with additional cameras, sensors, and broadcast equipment,” says a company representative. Carefully designed wiring harnesses are fit into exact dimensions and routes inside miniature electronic equipment to enable compact modules that are small, lightweight, and reliable.
Micro- and nano-sized connectors with ruggedized spring pin contacts, as small as 13 one-thousands of an inch in diameter, provide constant connection through high vibration and physical shock. The combined cable-connector systems are designed-to-fit the instrument, retain high flexibility, and offer constant performance during use.
Wire harness routing from one module to another is kept at the shortest possible length to improve signal quality. Shielded cable is often used to assure signals are not affected by resulting electro-motive interference that can occur in miniature electronics.
Miniature wiring is used and made from multiple strands of fine-wire copper insulated with Teflon to insure flexibility, long life, and withstand a wide temperature range often needed in ruggedized portable electronics, adds the company representative.
Electrical design teams are constantly demanding higher density to increase the functions of each part of their instruments. Space available for the internal wiring systems that route signals from one section of the instrument to another is getting smaller and more critical. Designing the cable and connector system specifically for each instrument helps reduce size and weight while improving circuit speed, signal routing and helps matching signal impedance to other circuits in adjoining module.
Courtney Howard | Executive Editor
Courtney, as executive editor, enjoys writing about all things electronics and avionics in PennWell’s burgeoning Aerospace and Defense Group, which encompasses Military & Aerospace Electronics, Avionics Intelligence, the Avionics Europe conference, and much more. She’s also a self-proclaimed social-media maven, mil-aero nerd, and avid avionics geek. Connect with Courtney at [email protected], @coho on Twitter, and on LinkedIn.