For decades, connector manufacturers have relied on traditional spring-loaded, or pogo-style pins, to provide highly compliant, reliable interconnections. Although expensive, these highly compliant pins are used to connect batteries to docking stations, antennas to PCBs, for rugged, high-shock and vibration applications, or to compensate for floating heights and uneven mating surfaces.

For decades the spring-loaded probe aka pogo-style pin has delivered excellent mechanical and electrical performance in a highly compliant contact. However, this often came at a high cost given that each pin is constructed of 3-4 discreet parts manufactured and assembled in a laborious, less-than-fully-automated process.