The docking connector will be used at the competition
Coda Systems has unveiled that its Swift-Dock docking connectors will feature in Skyward’s rockets at the European Rocketry Challenge, an association of students at Politecnico di Milano.
The Coda swift dock ultra power, swift dock datapower, and SD magnetic series will be used by the students to improve connections between rocket components and ground systems, providing greater control to operators. This is a mission-critical piece of infrastructure.
Students at the university have been testing and building rockets since 2012, making two rockets last year, the Lyra and Aeneas. Lyra stood at 3.7m tall, with a 15cm diameter and featured 2,000N of thrust. The rocket competed in the SRAD Hybrid 3,000m category, building on the previous years Gemini rocket.
Meanwhile, the Aeneas was the first Italian liquid engine built by engines, which also competed last year. It fired for six seconds and had a thrust of 1,750N. The rocket was developed and built entirely by Skyward with the wider aim of studying and understanding liquid propulsion in greater depth.
In addition to being used for rocket applications, the docking connectors can also be used for data transfer operations in handheld computers, industrial robots, prosthetics, UAVs and drones, medical instruments, data loggers, telecom devices, and retail display systems.
Swift-Dock is commonly used in pairs, with the spring-loaded side used to compress against the solid land side, making electrical connections. It is possible to make electrical connections through each side separately.
A range of different dockers are available, starting with the Swift-Dock which comes in standard size as a 7mm pitch, followed by the Swift-Dock-micro , which is a miniature size with a 2.2mm pitch.
Swift-Dock-mini is physically smaller than standard Swift-Dock with 3mm pitch, whistSwift-Dock-Power has the same 7mm pitch as standard Swift-Dock and has been designed for use in applications up to 10 amps.
Swift-Dock-Ultra-Power has a large 10mm pitch and has been designed for use in applications up to 12 amps, whilst Swift-Dock-Data is designed specifically for data connections with 7, 8, 9 and 12 pin configuations.
Finally, Swift-Dock-Magnetic is a self-aligning, magnetic cover system for selected series within our Swift-Dock range.
