New "CFO 2" rotating optical fiber transmitter

Optical polymer fibers guarantee the contact-free, rotating transmission of large quantities of data or Fast Ethernet over optical fibers. Fiber lengths can be up to 50 meters per channel, if used together with Conductix-Wampfler Media Converter CFC, with no sensitivity to electromagnetic interference.

Agrate, August, 2011. Conductix-Wampfler, the world's leading manufacturer of systems for energy and data transmission to mobile consumers, has developed a new rotating optical fiber transmitter. The solution, marketed under the name CFO 2, allows contact-free, full-duplex transmission on two passive, independent channels with optical polymer fibers.

The rotating transmitter and the lines are designed for data quantities of up to 100 megabits per second and are equally suitable for green, blue, and red light. The CFO 2 is thus particularly well-suited for use in environments requiring reliable, low-maintenance, interference-free high-speed data transmission – such as drilling islands, wind energy installations, factory robots, fabrication machines, or video surveillance systems with pivoting cameras.

The transmission distance of the CFO 2 can extend up to 50 meters (with CFC) – the longest range to date for this type of rotating transmitter. A significant advantage of optical fiber transmission is also its lack of sensitivity to electromagnetic interference. CFO 2 is also protected from chemical influences, since PUR and Kevlar shielding render the cables resistant to oil and lubricants, for example. The starting torque is 0.1 Nm, the maximum speed of rotation is about 300 RPM, and the service life of the unit is well over 15 million rotations.

The optical fiber transmitter was developed by the Conductix-Wampfler R&D Department in Italy. The CFO 2 was designed with the latest optical CAD, built, and then subjected to a whole series of tests: long-term operation and stress tests as well as testing of working and storage temperatures. The cable's tensile force capacity is at the connector up to 80 N. The rotating transmitter has passed the EN60068-2-64 vibration test (5 to 300Hz random, 10.22 gRMS) as well as EN60068-2-27 and MIL-STD-810F shock tests (half-sine 200g / 6ms).

CFO 2 and the corresponding media converter have been tested for transmitting Ethernet at one Gigabit per second and will be available for a fiber length up to 15m soon.