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4-fingered beryllium copper female
contact which delivers excellent
electrical and mechanical performance.
Products such as the 2mm pitch
Datamate and Mix-tek families, the
Gecko 1.25mm pitch family and high
power M300 connectors are rated to
withstand extremes of shock, vibration
and temperature and have been
used in many satellite applications as
well as other aerospace, oil and gas
exploration, robotics, UAVs, motor
sport, military vehicles and other
mission-critical projects.
For the latest WUSAT 3 mission,
the team is still in the development
phase. But one of the most intriguing
possibilities the team is considering
uses four Datamate connectors, not
only to provide electrical connection
but also to deliver the structural
integrity of a four PCB box section
design where the boards become self-
supporting (see figure 2). Typically,
PCBs used in Cubesat designs are
stacked one on top of another,
separated by pillar spacers. The new
proposed arrangement would not only
increase available space, it would also
save a lot of wire to board between
stacked PCBs. Just as importantly, it
would also allow best design practice
to be employed when designing the
signal processing circuitry - a major
part of this project.
The box cube structure proposed uses
Harwin’s Datamate J-Tek connectors,
which feature locking jackscrews for
additional mating security - essential
if the structural integrity of the
design is to rely on the ruggedness
of the connector. In fact, not only
space applications, but several other
industries such as aviation, defence,
robotics and motor sport now prefer to
specify jackscrews rather than latches
or other fixing mechanisms, which
can wear and fail due to excessive
vibration.
Diagrammatic depiction of the WUSAT 3 design
New-Tech Magazine Europe l 37