Optical Contact withstands harsh environments.
Press Release Summary:
Featuring hermaphroditic design, ELIO® Optical Contact offers tool-less contact insertion and extraction from connector, and immunity to EMI, eliminating need for any form of shielding. Female insert surfaces are always accessible for cleaning. Offering minimal signal loss, even under high vibration and severe mechanical shock, ELIO® technology is qualified according to rigorous aviation and military standards, including Arinc 801 and EN 4531 and 4626.
Original Press Release:
ELIO Optical Contact
ELIO® is the easiest-to-use optical contact for harsh environments on the market. All the steps are simplified, from cabling through installation to maintenance operations: hermaphroditic contact, tool-less contact insertion and extraction from the connector, female insert optical surfaces always accessible for easy cleaning, sealing of the ELIO® contact on the optical cable without additional adapters and more... ELIO® is
the only mass-producted optical contact proven in flight on board the Airbus A380.
Today there are two clear trends regarding data transmission in the aircraft and military markets: constantly increasing transmission rates and the need to save weight. Optical fiber technology is an ideal response to these two trends, providing very high data rates and an immunity to electromagnetic interference which eliminates the need for any form of shielding, often very expensive in terms of weight and complexity.
Moreover, for a given quantity of information to be transmitted, the high optical fiber data rates allow the inclusion of fewer contact points than a standard electrical solution, requiring fewer cable assemblies and in the end still lower weight.
Fully aware of these issues, SOURIAU, in partnership with several of the world´s major aircraft manufacturers, has developed the ELIO® high-performance optical contact for applications in harsh environments such as aircraft. This contact has been designed for ease of use in markets where optical technology is unknown or little-known in comparison with conventional electrical solutions. All of this in combination with excellent optical performance in harsh environments: very low optical signal losses even under the highest vibrations and the most severe mechanical shock!
ELIO® technology is qualified according to the most rigorous aviation and military standards, including Arinc 801 and EN 4531 and 4626. ELIO® is the optical technology chosen officially by Airbus for its aircraft; it is the only mass-produced optical contact proven in flight on board the Airbus A380.
The ELIO® contact can be installed either in dedicated high density inserts for Arinc 600 and MIL-DTL-38999 Series III connectors or in standard electrical inserts by means of adapters for ARINC 600 #8 Quadrax cavities and recently MIL-DTL-38999 Series III cavities. This adapter solution offers flexibility unrivaled on the market for mixing electrical and optical contacts, exploiting the very wide MIL-DTL-38999 Series III standard electrical range from SOURIAU.
