Electro-Optic Hybrid Rotary Joint (EOHRJ)

Abstract

An advanced electro-optic hybrid rotary joint (EOHRJ) has been developed in Phase II of an AF SBIR effort with Physical Optics Corporation (POC) to replace cable wrap structure for multi-channel rotation-to-fixed (RTF) signal transmission. The EOHRJ meets AFFTC and other range special needs with a generic, high performance, rotary joint solution. At the moment, we have successfully installed and tested the EOHRJ on our KTM tracker system with the following capabilities: 1) able to accommodate hundreds of transmission channels, including electrical power, control, feedback, and low-speed signals; 2) able to accommodate multiple channel, high data rate (over gigabits per second), and bi-directional signal transmission; 3) able to be reliable for harsh environmental operation, adaptive to stringent sized requirement, and accommodating existing electrical and mechanical interfaces. The completed EOHRJ contains three uniquely integrated functional rings. The first and the outmost one is power ring, which provides RTF transmission channels for over 50 high voltage and high current channels. The second and the middle one is low speed electrical signal ring, which provides RTF transmission for over hundred control, feedback, and low speed data signals. The third and the inmost one is optical fiber slip ring, which, incorporating with current advanced signal multiplexing technologies (either time division or wavelength division multiplexing ) is able to provide multiple channel, high data rate, and bi-directional signal transmission. At the moment, the prototype module of the tree-layer EOHRJ has been successfully assembled in Air Force’s tracker system, and is providing a satisfactory performance. This paper presents our joint work on this project.