Page 15 - 2020 Interconnect Innovations eBook

High-Reliability Connectors
Autonomous delivery robots depend on numerous connectors to ensure uninterrupted signal and power transmission and safe, reliable operation. Enabling connectors must be able to withstand harsh-environment conditions, including rainwater, splashed water, puddles, shock, vibration, and varying temperatures, without disrupting the robots’ overall performance. Ruggedized D-subminiature connectors are often used to help power and charge delivery robots, and high-density D-subs are often used to deliver signal and communication. Connectors that combine power and signal delivery in a single housing are also ideal for the space and weight saving they provide.
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» NorComp’s 684M Series D-Sub Mixed Contact Right-Angle Connectors are part of its POWER-D line of mixed-contact D-subs with solid-pin machined contacts. They deliver both power and signal in a single housing to provide space and weight savings and employ solid-pin machined contacts to ensure high-reliability performance in demanding applications including industrial robotics.
High-Speed Data Sensors
Sophisticated sensors are another connectivity requirement for cutting-edge autonomous delivery robots. Sensors play a vital role in autonomous delivery robots by allowing them to sense, identify, and appropriately respond to the world around them and collect the data necessary to operate and navigate safety (e.g., avoid obstacles). Below are a few of the most common sensors employed in today’s autonomous delivery robots.
• Camera Sensors provide a 360° view of the environment and help identify traffic signs, pedestrians, cars, and guardrails.
• Ultrasonic Sensors measure the distance between sensors and objects.
• Infrared Sensors provide critical images in low-light conditions and are often employed in night-vision systems.
• Light Detection and Ranging (LiDAR) Sensors use lasers to estimate distance and create high-resolution, three-dimensional images of the environment.
• Radar Sensors use long-range (77GHz) and short-range (24GHz) radio waves to detect moving and stationary objects.
Vehicle-to-Everything (V2X) Technology
Vehicle-to-everything (V2X) technology facilitates information sharing between vehicles and any other electronic entity that may affect the vehicle, and vice versa. These technologies depend on a combination of connectivity products, including high-speed data sensors, high-reliability power, signal, and data connectors, various power and data cables, and antennas to control and manage the safety of autonomous delivery robots and their surroundings. V2X technology improves robots’ situational awareness, alerting them of dangers ranging from obstructions to traffic jams and accidents, and unlike sensors alone can even propose a new route if needed.
The Future of Autonomous Delivery Robots
Autonomous delivery robots are a nascent technology with both a great deal of market potential and an ever- expanding array of advanced connectivity technologies available to support their continued evolution and steadily increasing employment.
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