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Military & Aerospace Electronics, presents MPL with another Gold Award in the Technology Innovators Awards 2021.
APLUS Système Automation is pleased to announce that the MXCS-15 XXML (MXCS family) from its partner MPL, has been awarded a top 2021 award at the “Military & Aerospace Electronics Innovators Awards.”
Recall that MPL previously won a Gold Award in 2020 for its PIP40 family of weaponized computers.
The MXCS-15 XXML is a SWaP-C type militarized computer. It was developed with the goal of meeting MIL-STD-810 as well as parts of DO-160. This unique solution is installed in a compact IP67 enclosure with a total of eight D-38999 connectors, including a 10Gbit dual fiber LAN port.
Why innovate ?
The rugged solutions used in defense, traffic or maritime applications must withstand shock and vibration when installed in vehicles, aircraft or ships. Typically, the interfaces for these solutions are wired to rugged connectors such as MIL-DTL-38999 or similar. The critical point of these connections is the mismatch of wires that must be used. On the CPU board side, the wire should be as thin as possible, and on the MIL 38999 connector side, it should match the connector pin as closely as possible. In general, this is a rather large wire.
In most cases, you don’t have the right size of wire for each side, so you have to make a compromise on the size of the wire on one side or the other of the cables. This is not ideal for a system that needs to be reliable over the long term. Soldered or crimped wires present a risk, even if they are perfectly sized, that the splice will not be perfect. Even if they are perfectly sized, soldered or crimped wires are likely to break sooner or later during operation. As described, in most cases it is not possible to select a perfectly sized wire.
The solution
To overcome this critical issue, MPL has designed adapter circuits, which interface directly to the CPU board without the need for wires. In addition, the adapter circuit is designed so that the interfaces are directly on the high-density, lockable connectors. The pins of the MIL-DTL-38999 connectors or any other ruggedized connector are soldered directly to a Ridged-Flex PCB. The flexible part of the Ridged-Flex has mating pieces for the locking socket on the adapter PCB and the ruggedized connector can be installed directly into the IP67 housing. With this innovative solution, the connection will be reliable for the life of the product and easily withstand any shock and/or vibration conditions.
This approach is only made possible, because MPL AG provides the complete engineering chain of all hardware (electronic as well as mechanical) in their premises, in Switzerland, with their own engineering team.
The advantages
The advantages of the approach described above, are obvious. This approach meets 100% of the needs of each of the environment constraints, for each type of military application.
