A Step-by-Step Guide for Rugged Connector Selection in the Era of Ever-Increasing Data Speed and Miniaturization Demands By David Cianciolo, Engineering Director, Fischer Connectors, Inc. Connector selection has morphed from the old standby, “How many contacts do you need?” into a much more serious challenge. Today’s design engineers need to find ways to pump increasingRead More

Rugged automotive interconnects are essential for the reliable operation of automotive battery management and power delivery systems Kevin Oursler, US – Director Marketing and Business Development at ERNI Electronics, Inc. Automotive battery management systems (BMSs) continue to progress in complexity and storage capacity, challenged by architecture and interconnectivity solutions that require ruggedization and reliability criteriaRead More

Cantilever beam compression contacts for pluggable medical modules employ advanced contact materials, geometries, and designs to deliver high-reliability performance in harsh environments.  Tom Anderson, Connector Product Manager, AVX Interconnect To achieve high-reliability connectors for pluggable or disposable medical modules, design engineers must perfectly match the critical contact base material and form geometry to the intended productRead More

Guidelines for the effective selection of medical connectors By Tom Kannally, product specialist/applications engineer, Contact Technologies, Smiths Interconnect Choosing the Right Interconnect Systems for Medical Device Designs Medical devices, such as patient monitors, imaging systems, electrophysiology catheters, and other diagnostic and therapeutic systems, require dependable connectivity and accurate signal transmission. Equipment for the medical marketRead More

High-reliability, robust designs, peak performance, and simple assembly are some of the most critical connectivity requirements for high-vibration medical equipment. Alfred Lee, Business Development Manager at Hirose Electric Engineers must take many factors into consideration when designing connectors for medical equipment in high-vibration environments. From stationary high-vibration equipment, like computed tomography (CT) scanners, to portableRead More

Affording backshells the same design process considerations as connector selection can help prevent delays, cost overruns, and premature failures in mission-critical mil/aero applications Rudy Ramos, Project Manager – Technical Content Marketing, Mouser Electronics Mil/Aero connectors are designed for a variety of mission-critical, harsh-environment applications, including commercial and military avionics, satellites, and weapons systems. Connector selectionRead More

Adnane Jaghmim, Tests and Measures Manager; Thibault Monet, Design Engineer; and Nataliya Mayaki, Brand Manager, Nicomatic Harsh-environment military and aerospace electronics applications require specialized interconnect solutions. The interconnect solutions for these applications not only have to withstand extreme environmental conditions, such as extreme operating temperatures, high vibration, high pressure, and exposure to water or dust, butRead More

Radiation-proof connectors allow robots to work in places where humans cannot safely tread. By Jean Thilmany The number of robots working at nuclear power plants — helping to shut down, clean up, and perform other duties that humans cannot, due to inaccessibility or the danger of radiation exposure — continues to grow. This rising demandRead More

The use of production breaks in aircraft minimizes weight, size, and power consumption. The primary purpose of production-break connectors is to facilitate the ease of installation for long, heavy, complex, multi-leg cable harness assemblies. Without the use of production breaks in the aircraft, it would be virtually impossible to build, repair, or upgrade today’s complexRead More

Five Things to Consider When Selecting a Connector Supplier for Automotive Applications Burt Fisher, Applications Engineer, Advanced Interconnections Corp. 1. The Company – What’s Under the Hood Automotive design engineers rely on their suppliers’ specialization and expertise to keep pace with the increasingly demanding interconnect requirements needed to support data-driven systems in connected vehicles. So,Read More

Can the same connector be used in both through-hole reflow and surface-mount device processes? Weidmuller looks at how pin length can make all the difference in meeting the requirements of IPC-A-610 E. Today’s PCB is a platform for electronic components that creates circuits varying from simple to highly sophisticated. Requirements such as the miniaturization of components,Read More

Dr. Bob reviews two recently published papers to draw conclusions on the possible use of nanocrystalline silver alloy contact finishes in electronic applications. In my previous article, in which I mentioned two recent papers* on the nanocrystalline silver alloys of silver-tungsten (AgW) and silver-palladium (AgPd) and their use as contact finishes, I highlighted the potential benefits these alloysRead More