INSTRUMENTATION • ELECTRONICSSECTION TITLE
CONNECTORS FOR DUMMIES
Erica Mutch reveals how a redesigned component helps build smarter crash-test dummies
I
f it’s not broken, don’t fi x it, right? But when there’s a way to make it better, engineers can get it done. In a complex system, the tiniest components play critical roles, so refi ning a product can start with its smallest elements. Slice6, a miniature data acquisition system manufactured by Diversifi ed Technical Systems (DTS), depends on a small connector unit to collect, store and transmit data from sensor arrays in military and automotive crash-test dummies. T is connector unit needs to be both rugged and reliable to
perform in extreme shock, vibration, and blast environments – it’s all in a day’s work for test dummies used in injury biomechanics testing. Reliable connector performance, however, didn’t satisfy the company that supplied the unit when its engineers realised the custom unit could be made even better. T e custom connector unit, made by Omnetics
Connector Corporation, consists of a U-shaped metal shell with two integrated connectors: one Micro connector with 36 pins positioned inside the shell, and one Nano connector with 36 pins positioned on the shell’s exterior. T e width of the shell measures just 13mm. T e unit fi ts inside the Slice6 DAQ module, which measures 24 x 30 x 10mm and weighs in at 28g. Size, weight and product availability are key considerations when designing the connector unit. Military orders can be time-critical and the connector unit, made exclusively for DTS, took 10 days to manufacture in small batches of 100 or 120 pieces – not an unusual task for the connector supplier, which specialises in MIL-spec, medical and precision miniature interconnects. Even so, this was a longer lead time than the company liked to quote. “To manufacture the old version of the unit, we were cutting wires to about 25mm, stripping them on both ends and then crimping a Nano contact on one end and a Micro contact on the other. Each unit contained 36 wires,” says Travis Neumann, special projects manager at Omnetics. “Prepping the wire took about three days. T en we loaded the wires into the connector housing. It took another three days to get all the wires loaded into the two connector pieces that go into the metal shell. After that, we epoxied the connectors to the shell and tested the unit. Overall, it was a time consuming and ineffi cient manufacturing process.”
NO MARGIN FOR ERROR Quality control is critical. Slice6 supports NHTSA and EURO NCAP testing, and
The Slice6
miniature data acquisition system
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