Contactless connectivity: is the electric contact obsolete?

Dr Thomas Paral, director of TE's Industrial Advanced Technology team says: "The ICEC, organized every two years, is the principal worldwide gathering of electrical contacts scientists and engineers, and is a forum for presentation of research on contact phenomena, developments in technologies, and advancement in the manufacturing of a range of connective devices. We are pleased that Peter Jaeger is presenting a whole new category of technology - the contactless connector."

The paper covers the choices made during the development of the ARISO M12 prototype and M30 coupler pair, showing TE's developments beyond traditional contact-based connectors. Peter Jaeger is representing co-authors Dirk-Jan Riezebos, Gied Habraken and Wijnand van Gils, all members of TE's Industrial Advanced Technology team.

ABSTRACT: Contactless connectivity: is the electric contact obsolete?

Emerging technologies are applied to create a new category of "contactless couplers." Various coupling options have been compared: ultrasound; high and low frequency RF; and capacitive, optical, infrared and inductive coupling for power as well as data. TE Connectivity integrated state-of-the-art inductively coupled power transfer (ICPT) technology with RF technology for data transfer into an M12 sized coupler-to-coupler prototype, and developed and released an M30 sized coupler system. This new connectivity system does not have the limitations of physical contact based connectors, can increase productivity of existing industrial applications, and enables new applications. Latest developments focus on a higher frequency RF coupling capable of handling at least 1 Gbps in data rates.

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