Uncrewed Systems Technology: ‘Secure in the knowledge’

Check out the latest issue of Uncrewed Systems Technology (UST 44, June/July 2022) that features an interesting article on the connectivity needs of uncrewed vehicles, with contributions from D. Ptacek at Fischer Connectors USA and other connectivity experts.

“Uncrewed vehicles have particular needs regarding their internal connections, which suppliers are now meeting”, Rory Jackson reports in his article entitled ‘Secure in the knowledge’. As the autonomous world becomes more sophisticated and caters to users in diverse markets, connector designs are fast improving in multiple capabilities. New generations of connectors now come with higher power, usage lifetimes and environmental tolerances. Autonomous and uncrewed vehicles benefit from lighter connectors suited to more compact vehicles, more rugged ones that withstand submersion, turbulence and impacts on land or sea, and less costly ones that allow considerable savings.

Moreover, some connectors provide far higher power, to better serve the hybridelectric and long-endurance vehicles designed for long-range logistics and survey missions. Supplying these new connectors takes knowledge and skill in high-end connector design, prototyping and testing.

Innovation is being driven by leading connector manufacturers who involve their engineers with uncrewed systems OEMs early in the design cycles of new products. That provides insights into the OEMs’ engineering and operational goals, and ensures that connectors can be swiftly designed for exact purposes, whether size, weight, cost, lifetime or power.