Advances in connector technologies

This article originally appeared in the November'24 magazine issue of Electronic Specifier Design – see ES's Magazine Archives for more featured publications.

At the same time, virtually all applications are also subject to requirements that put limitations on the size, weight, power, and cost permitted. Here, Harwin takes a look at some of these recent advances with examples that will be on display at electronica 2024.

Examine any high reliability system and you'll see trade-offs in its design that balance reliability and performance with size, weight, power and/or cost (SWaP-C). A great example of this is High-End auto-sport, where a single component failure might end a race instantly, but the power to weight ratio is critical and every single additional gram can be attributed to a specific, quantifiable reduction in speed.

As some of the largest and bulkiest electronic components in a system, connectors come under intense scrutiny in SWaP-C limited applications and as such, the sector invests heavily in R&D, with advances enabling smaller, lighter, more rugged connectors that reduce trade-offs.

Advanced materials

Materials science research has enabled many of the key advances behind today’s smaller, lighter electronic connectors. In particular, it has enabled the shift from traditional metals (for example steel) to lighter, higher-performing alloys and plastics.

An example of this can be seen in Harwin’s Gecko range of dual-row connectors. These use a 30% glass filled thermoplastic, which not only reduces weight versus a traditional Micro-D connector, but also gives an exceptional mechanical strength plus resistance to thermal and chemical degradation.

Similarly, advanced materials such as copper alloys and beryllium copper enable improved electrical contacts, with better electrical conductivity and mechanical properties. Gold plating can be applied to contact surfaces to prevent oxidation and to ensure long-term electrical performance. And for connector housings, aluminium alloys have become a de-facto choice. These materials have exceptionally high strength-to-weight ratio as well as corrosion resistance.

Many of these properties can be seen in the 1.25mm pitch Gecko family of connectors, as well as the high-density 2.00mm pitch Datamate and high-power (60 A) Kona series.

Floating and flexibility

It’s not just materials science advances that are improving reliability and weight reductions. A very recent advance is the development of floating board-to-board connectors – such as the Flecto range, which are being launched at electronica. These floating connectors address the data and power transfer demands of high-performance applications, but also give a level of positional tolerance, which is critical in building robustness – positional tolerance eases the stresses placed on slightly misaligned connectors while maintaining contact force over time, especially in high-vibration environments. Additionally, these floating connector technologies enable higher-speed automated PCB assemblies with multiple connector pairs.

Harwin’s Flecto range, for example, offers pitches of 0.5, 0.635 and 0.8mm and can accommodate movement of up to ±0.5mm in the X and Y axes. Through this technology it is possible to enable the accurate placement of multiple connectors between the same two PCBs where the sum of misalignments might otherwise present challenges for high-speed high-precision mating.

Enhanced EMI and RFI shielding

In many applications shielding is absolutely critical – a satellite, for example, requires extreme environmental shielding from electromagnetic interference, but so too do a vast number of applications – from MRI scanners to aerospace systems.

The industry has developed several ways to manage this, for example advanced backshell designs feature a 360° EMC shielding with a conductive barrier around the entire connection point. Several EZi board-level advances will be on display at electronica – from backshells to EMI/RFI shielding cans, shielding kits as well as contacts, sockets, cables and clips.

Spring loading gives enhanced resistance to shock

Another example where robustness is being added by the industry is through the use of novel designs to absorb vibration and shock. An example of these innovations that improve reliability are pogo pins that come spring loaded to absorb the forces encountered in harsh environments, and PCB spring contacts that are optimised for high-speed assembly.

Support tools

An innovation to improve reliability which is less visible, but no less important, is the rise in support tools. Increasingly, engineers are looking to manufacturers for additional help during the design and development process. At electronica, Harwin will be demonstrating a number of its design tools as well as its online CAD connector models.

There are also several exceptional third-party software tools that have come to the fore in recent years, notably TraceParts and TrustedParts, as well as cable configurator tools such as Cadenas’, and component management tools such as the component search engine from SnapMagic (formerly SnapEDA).