Throughout its history, Aerospace Optics has had an impressive record of innovation and achievement. The company has designed, patented and manufactured several industry-changing technological advancements as shown below. Our goal is to continue leading the way into the future with additional advanced innovations for the man-machine interface market.
QUIK-Connect
Pushbutton switch installation has traditionally been characterized by significant touch labor. This inherent limitation was the result of soldering and was finally resolved in the 1980s when Aerospace Optics introduced a separable solderless connector system. This new technique significantly reduced labor and installation time. The new solderless QUIK-Connect system also streamlined field support while maintaining full environmental compliance to the extremes of 75Gs shock and 2000Hz vibration.
LED Lighting
In the late 1990s Aerospace Optics introduced the single most significant technological breakthrough for illuminated pushbutton switches, replacing the incandescent lamps with LEDs. With the introduction of the VIVISUN LED, reliability increased from a few hundred hours to life-of-the-platform. Others had attempted to bring LEDs into the design mainstream but significant limitations were encountered. LEDs required special PWM dimming based on each color tracking differently and the tendency for LEDs to extinguish at much higher voltage levels than incandescent lamps. The LED was also susceptible to electrical damage from ESD and transients. These limitations were resolved by Aerospace Optics’ unique patented Driving, Dimming and Protection Circuit (DDPC). The DDPC provides a unique approach for driving the LEDs offering a failsafe technique assuring critical lighted messages remain readable even in a failure mode. The need for specialized and costly PWM dimmers was also eliminated with the DDPC allowing the LED to dim just as the incandescent lamps with standard voltage control. Susceptibility to electrical damage was also resolved with the DDPC providing ESD protection and shielding from lightning transients and surge currents.
Discrete Dimming
Aerospace Optics continued with an aggressive strategy for innovation with the introduction of the Discrete Dimming feature. Discrete Dimming allows brightness control through applying different combinations of ground or power to the inputs. This unique feature simplifies driver circuits, further eliminating the need for specialized power supplies.
LR3
In recent years the use of pushbutton illuminated switches has changed as more and more operator interface is combined and automated into displays. This change in design concept has resulted in increased importance for the safety-critical lighted pushbuttons and indicators. Aerospace Optics has responded to customer requirements and answered the call for innovation with a larger 1" X 1.2" rectangular VIVISUN LR3 switch and indicator. The LR3 contains 24 LEDs producing maximum brightness and readability for the most important safety-critical applications. Just as with all VIVISUN products the LR3 is MIL-SPEC qualified to MIL-PRF-22885/113 and witnessed and conformed to
DO-160F.
MFB Series
The Aerospace Optics answer to the demand for improved packaging and design simplification has resulted in one of the most significant changes for the traditional discrete lighted pushbutton switch since the LED. The Multi-Function Body (MFB) was developed to integrate advanced electrical function internal to the traditional lighted pushbutton switch. The MFB is unique to the VIVISUN products and has served to enrich the ways in which lighted pushbutton switches are used and has served to reverse the trend away from the use of discrete components. The primary MFB products are the VIVISUN Logic Series which integrates into the High Capacity MFB body and the VIVISUN Integration Pack (VIP) Series which is compatible with either the High Capacity MFB or the Compact MFB body. The current MFD components under the LOGIC Series and the VIP include the following:
LOGIC Series, Electronic Latch which is the electronic equivalent to the traditional holding coil or magnetic latching switch but with set, reset and toggle features.
LOGIC Series, Pulse/Timer which is a duel channel edge detector reading either a high or low going input and producing a high or low timed output.
LOGIC Series, Pushbutton Rotary replaces traditional mechanical rotary switches and has four separate control states allowing a single pushbutton to transition through a different state each time it is actuated.
VIP Series, Solid State Relay (SSR1), designed to replace the function of traditional solid state relays without the limitations of external packaging.