Unmanned Systems Technology Dec/Jan 2020 | Phoenix UAS | Sonar focus | Construction insight | InterGeo 2019 | Supacat ATMP | Adelan fuel cell | Oregon tour | DSEI 2019 | Copperstone Helix | Power management focus

14 Platform one December/January 2020 | Unmanned Systems Technology Dr Donough Wilson Dr Wilson is innovation lead at aviation, defence, and homeland security innovation consultants, VIVID/ futureVision. His defence innovations include the cockpit vision system that protects military aircrew from asymmetric high-energy laser attack. He was first to propose the automatic tracking and satellite download of airliner black box and cockpit voice recorder data in the event of an airliner’s unplanned excursion from its assigned flight level or track. For his ‘outstanding and practical contribution to the safer operation of aircraft’ he was awarded The Sir James Martin Award 2018/19, by the Honourable Company of Air Pilots. Paul Weighell Paul has been involved with electronics, computer design and programming since 1966. He has worked in the real-time and failsafe data acquisition and automation industry using mainframes, minis, micros and cloud-based hardware on applications as diverse as defence, Siberian gas pipeline control, UK nuclear power, robotics, the Thames Barrier, Formula One and automated financial trading systems. Ian Williams-Wynn Ian has been involved with unmanned and autonomous systems for more than 20 years. He started his career in the military, working with early prototype unmanned systems and exploiting imagery from a range of unmanned systems from global suppliers. He has also been involved in ground-breaking research including novel power and propulsion systems, sensor technologies, communications, avionics and physical platforms. His experience covers a broad spectrum of domains from space, air, maritime and ground, and in both defence and civil applications including, more recently, connected autonomous cars. Unmanned Systems Technology’s consultants Stamped and formed micro and nano signal contacts with flat leads are becoming increasingly viable for high- reliability unmanned systems (writes Nick Flaherty). There are four main types of pin and socket contacts used by micro and nano connector manufacturers, but they all use a male pin that engages with a socket contact. The choice of screw-machined, drawn metal, or stamped and formed for the socket depends on the specific application. For example, a screw- machined or drawn metal socket is suitable for crimping stranded or solid wire. Crimped solid round wire is also commonly used to form through-hole or surface mount terminations. Stamped and formed contacts are created from rolls of copper alloy that has been selected because of its specific conductivity, strength and temper. It then goes through progressive stamping dies that form its specific geometry. This produces a very consistent result that includes an integral contact tail that does not have to be added in a secondary operation, unlike crimping to a solid round wire to create the same surface mount or through-hole contact tail termination. The integral contact tail eliminates any contact resistance as well. The result is a true position and coplanarity to the bottom surface of the insulator or metal shell, in relation to the plane of the solder pad. The process also enables highly consistent manufacturing repeatability. Individual contacts such as screw-machined or drawn sockets are bulk packaged and handled individually for placement, with less consistent assembly results. Stamped and formed micro and nano signal contacts with flat leads provide more predictable processing and coplanar stability with reliable delivery of 3 A and 1 A respectively. The use of flat material instead of round has resulted in improved contact manufacturing consistency and improved mechanical strength of the compliant pin and socket designs. They also provide a stable current-carrying capacity for micro and nano connectors that are a quarter to an eighth the size of a traditional connector. Ulti-Mate is supplying micro and nano connectors for immediate shipment for prototype projects from its US factory, rather than having a delivery time of weeks. Connectors Flat advantage for contacts Ulti-Mate is one company now supplying its connectors for prototype projects