In a Q&A session, Omnetics Connector Corporation’s international sales director, Joe Held and director of technology, Bob Stanton reveal why the company takes great pride in what it builds for its customers.
Omnetics is a miniature connector design and manufacturing company with many years’ experience, focused on Micro-miniature and Nano-miniature, highly reliable electronic connectors and interconnection systems.
Q) In general, what kinds of interconnect performance demands are placed on you by today's airframers?
Robust, miniature, high speed interconnects are in huge demand. Flexibility and ease of integration are also key criteria when designing interconnect for aircraft. Time is money and if we’re able to trim minutes off the installation of each connector in a harness then we can save the integrators hours of labour.
For example, Omnetics has listened to the complaints of the industry about the tedious nature of jackscrews on connectors. With a pair of jackscrews, integrators must alternate between each screw with ½ turn each time to avoid damaging the connector. We’ve developed a quick latch system on Micro and Nano-D connectors that eliminates this problem and streamlines the final integration. These latching connectors have been thoroughly tested above and beyond the shock and vibration requirements of the aviation industry.
Q) What technological barriers do you overcome in order to get your new connector offerings to market?
Omnetics’ connectors are designed for the harshest, most extreme environments. We’ve connectors suitable for 260°C, IP69 sealing, 1,000+ hours of salt spray. We can make connectors and harnesses smaller and lighter than designers are comfortable using. Many designers are restricting themselves with antiquated specifications that were written for larger interconnect systems at a time when high currents and analogue circuits were normal. Newer digital circuitry and lower power consumption should allow for smaller wire sizes, tighter printed circuit board traces and smaller through-hole annular rings. We’re ready for the next big push towards size and mass reduction when the market is ready to accept it.
Q) Is battery technology lagging behind industry demands and is the interconnect industry waiting for the battery design engineers to catch up?
Both interconnect and system design teams are approaching the issue indirectly. Modern chip technology uses much lower voltage and circuit current levels. New communication systems to Ethernet process and information storage circuits are being used. In conjunction with cable and connector teams, most older conventional aircraft electronics can be designed to use 30-40% lower current, which results in smaller wire and lower weight. Finally, the batteries used for operating and backup of those newer circuits are smaller and lower weight.
Q) Are tine-based contact solutions in danger of becoming redundant as designers start thinking that their board is too thin for the purpose and that they either need to use a thicker PCB - or introduce a lever mechanism because it has become too difficult to physically make the connection?
There are a wide variety of tine style contacts on the market of various sizes. They offer superb resistance to shock and vibration. The construction lends itself to miniaturisation. Insertion and extraction forces vary by pin count style and size. The mating force of a connector must be taken into consideration during the design. I have seen ‘tine-based’ contact solutions ranging from 85 grams up to 20+ kilograms. These forces can be adjusted and managed, so I don’t see the style of contact being made redundant.
However, connectors mounted to P.C. boards can become a problem in size if they are not thought out. More aircraft use ‘low-profile’ connectors, such as a low-profile Micro-D or Nano-D shaped connector mounted onto the board in the same horizontal plane as the board. Attachment to the board uses right-angle soldered SMT connections and/or right-angle soldered thru-hole attachments. The cable then approaches the board in the same horizontal plane to retain that low-profile form. This allows the aircraft system designer to use higher density ‘circuit card stacking’ techniques, similar to those used in Cube Satellite Electronics. The connector retains its tine to socket interconnection and succeeds in offering all of the reliability and ruggedness expected from the system.
Q) With Industry 4.0 very much in mind, are you working hard to rationalise and integrate your product offerings into one ‘digitalised’ global system for your interconnect products?
Omnetics has grown carefully into this style of design and manufacturing. Since SC21 includes new technology advancement, Omnetics has focused on working directly with International customers directly and offering rapid technology adjustments using solid modelling design stations. The output is then transmitted directly to automated CNC machine technology to offer rapid and lower cost. This automated machine to machine communication is coming into place, but within the environment of more advanced design applications expecting changes as rapidly as electronic technology changes. In addition, design data, specifications can be sent upon request to design offices internationally to ensure that the solid model fits and works within the system it is planned.
Since connector size and format is often being changed by the customer, there is less machine teaching machine detailed steps in Micro and Nano interconnections yet. That change will reach this level, when market volume and the dollar level rise to establish the worth of that investment.
We’re aware of Industry 4.0 initiatives. The biggest challenge we face is IT security. We’ve worked feverishly to update hardware, software and procedures to comply with the latest cybersecurity guidelines. The next step is the continued modernisation and automation of our production facilities. A long-term dream would be to have our production system and inventory system tied into our customers’ production lines so automatic builds and shipments could be processed without human intervention.
Q) What really differentiates and sets apart your company from the competition?
We’re innovators. We listen to our customers’ needs and create solutions that become standards, in addition to having extensive technical experience in design of application specific interconnection systems for evolving high speed electronics. Our speciality is miniaturisation for mission critical systems. You won’t find our connectors on washing machines. Our core business is interconnect systems for avionics, space and defence, and we’re also heavily involved in medical, surveillance and body sense electronic systems. We understand our customers’ challenges and are willing to modify standards or create custom solutions to fit their requirements.
Q) Finally, where do you see the biggest aerospace business challenge coming from this year?
Defence cuts can actually play into our favour. When funds are tight, focus gets put on upgrading existing systems such as radars. When systems are upgraded, designers are trying to pack more features into the same box. This means a need for smaller, higher density interconnect systems, which plays right into our core business. UAVs are a key part of our business, so we love seeing more money being allocated for their development.
Another challenging and rewarding business is the use of small satellites that work interactively with earth bound products. From communication and surveillance to active monitoring position of individuals to complete armies, we see demands for extensive launching of very small satellites from student projects to individual aircraft trackers and performance monitoring. We see new techniques from geophysical mapping to hyperspectral imaging that plots mineral and hydrocarbon deposits on earth. Ultra-miniature, ultra-light, very high-speed data processing and constant position monitoring and tracking with adjacent satellites is a fascinating and challenging market.
In this industry you can’t rest on your laurels. You have to be nimble and adaptable. You have to have an open mind and be learning something new every day. It is a competitive landscape and fortune favours the innovators.
