Rugged High Definition Camera

Kappa is one of the few camera manufacturers with comprehensive know-how in the development and manufacture of extremely robust cameras. We develop, design and manufacture camera systems for applications in extreme environmental
conditions. For more than 15 years, Kappa cameras have been used in the aerospace industry, military vehicles and industrial machines. These environments require absolute resistance to mechanical, climatic and electromagnetic stress as well as to surrounding substances and environmental impacts. In many cases, we have to use industry-standard components for reasons of availability and costs. This makes it difficult to meet the requirements on EMC, resistance to temperature, shock and vibration. Thus, from the beginning, the technical design has to focus on these specifi c requirements, for example by using heat sinks or shock absorbers. Standard circuits or modules may hardly ever be used. Proof of origin is required for all components. We prepare our special cameras to resist extreme stress such as:

• Temperature range from –55°C to +85°C with rapid fluctuations, also under negative pressure (e.g., 11.6 kPa corresponding to a height of 50,000 ft according to DO-160D)

•  Simulated lightning strike with overvoltages and currents of up to 1600 V/107 A on all connection pins according to DO-160D.
• Mechanical shocks of up to 20 g acceleration for 11ms according to DO-160D.
• Foreign bodies and water/salt water (protection rating up to IP 68)
•  Micro organisms (sterilizable, autoclavable)

All required technical characteristics are analytically defi ned and then verified at the object with measurement techniques. Specific knowledge and/or development environment is necessary, e.g. for MTBF calculations, thermic analysis or mechanical stress analysis. The prototype tests for verification of specific characteristics take place in specific installations. These are for example, shock and vibration tests on shakers, temperature and climate tests in climatic chambers, overvoltage, and EMC tests. We offer all these analytical methods and tests for our products and execute them either on our own or in cooperation with external partners.

• Random Vibration Test
The random vibration test uses a mixture of different frequencies within a specified frequency range, to mechanically stimulate the test object. The applicable standard also defi nes amplitude and frequency for this test.