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IP 67 test

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Tag: marine

SOMAG AG Jena has successfully tested the IP rating of its Gyro Stabilization Mounts for marine and land applications at the independent and accredited laboratory for environmental and materials testing at the Technologie-Zentrum für Oberflächentechnik und Umweltschutz Leipzig GmbH. The test of the protection class is part of a series of comprehensive environmental tests that the company performs at regular intervals, in addition to EMC and performance tests to ensure consistently high-quality standards for its devices.

Sebastian Schreiber, CTO at SOMAG, comments: “The mission of our marine and land gimbals is to flawlessly stabilize sensor systems in both marine environments with high humidity and salinity as well as in dusty, unpaved terrain. Therefore, they have been designed in such a way that neither dust nor water can enter into the units according to IP class 67.”

This classification has been successfully confirmed by recent tests according to DIN EN 60529: 2104 -09. The tests were carried out with an NSM 400, which was first placed in a dust chamber to test the protection against the ingress of solid foreign bodies (dust-tight). The NSM 400 was sprayed with talcum powder in the chamber from all directions. The talcum powder is very fine (<75 μm) and has rather lubricating properties. Due to the homogeneous structure of the dust, it infiltrates into the smallest joints, especially if negative pressure is applied, which was the case with the NSM 400. The gimbal was removed from the chamber and its functionality verified. Furthermore, the cover was removed and the device was opened. In accordance with the requirements for passing the test, there was no dust visible inside the unit.  

The second step was the test to determine the protection against temporary submersion. For this purpose, the NSM 400 was lowered into a dipping basin. The water level above the enclosure is defined with 1 meter. The gyro stabilizer remained submerged for 30 minutes. After this period, the Mount was lifted out of the basin, opened, and subjected to a visual inspection. No water was detected in the sealed area and the correct functioning of the device was confirmed.

NSM 400 inside dust chamber
NSM 400 inside dipping basin

 

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SOMAG AG Jena will be exhibiting at DSEI 2023, a global scale defense exhibition and conference held at Excel, London, from 12-15 September 2023. We are looking forward to welcoming you at our booth no. H1-427, located in the Future Tech Hub. On display will be our portfolio of airborne, marine and land Gyro Stabilization Mounts.

SOMAG is a leading provider of stabilization technology and offers solutions for air, land and water applications in civil and demanding military missions. Their success depends among others on the quality of the information obtained in operational environments. To improve the quality of information collected with EO/IR and other imaging systems in mobile applications, SOMAG develops and manufactures high-precision Gyro Stabilization Mounts designed to compensate for vehicle motion and to provide comprehensive situational awareness.

©Elettronica Group

Meet our experts at DSEI 2023

In case of questions about the capabilities of our gimbals or if you wish to discuss the feasibility of applications, our team will be available to talk to you at the show. Contact us to schedule an appointment in advance. We look forward to demonstrating our Gyro Mounts to you in a personal meeting at DSEI.

Sören Lieske
Sales Manager

Sales Airborne, Marine, Land
Phone: +49 3641 633 68 18
E-Mail: s.lieske@somag-ag.de
Let’s connect on LinkedIn

Sebastian Schreiber
CTO

Key Account Management
Phone: +49 3641 633 68 0
E-Mail: s.schreiber@somag-ag.de
Let’s connect on LinkedIn

    Contact us

    Book an appointment with our team at the event.
    We’re looking forward to seeing you!





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    Environmental testing

    Gyro Mounts to successfully pass temperature tests

    SOMAG AG Jena has successfully completed temperature tests on its airborne, marine and land Gyro Stabilization Mounts at the independent and accredited test laboratory MeßTechnikNord GmbH in Jena, Germany, which specializes in conducting climatic product tests, such as cold, heat, thermal shock, and humidity tests. The temperature tests are part of a series of comprehensive environmental tests that the company performs at regular intervals, in addition to EMC and performance tests to ensure consistently high-quality standards for its devices.

    Sebastian Schreiber, Chief Technology Officer at SOMAG, comments: “By means of environmental simulations, we can replicate environmental influences that occur in the course of a product life cycle to prove that our Gyro Mounts are able to face them. The analyses also help us to understand the different effects of extreme temperatures on the Mounts in operation, such as achieving the specified angles and angular velocities, as well as stabilization performance. In addition, it is important that we explore the limits of our devices.”

    Temperature Tests Airborne Gyro Mounts

    Tests were carried out on the GSM 4000 and DSM 400 Aerial Camera Stabilizers with their respective maximum payloads. The tests verified the acceptable temperature ranges for operation and storage given in the Gyro Mount specifications overview, which conforms to the RTCA DO-160 Equipment Section 4 / Temperature and Altitude / Category A1 standard:

    Category A1
    Operating Low Temp. [°C]-15
    Operating High Temp. [°C]+55
    Ground Survival Low Temperature (Storage) [°C]-55
    Ground Survival High Temperature (Storage) [°C]+85

    Both airborne gyro gimbals successfully passed the tests in the high and low temperature ranges. Beyond the limits of SOMAG specifications, the GSM 4000 kept performing well even at a minimum operating temperature of -32 °C.

    GSM 4000 (left) and DSM 400 (right) with weight plates as payload
    Temperature test setup in the climatic chamber in the facilities of MessTechnikNord

    Temperature Tests Marine/Land Gyro Mounts


    While airborne Gyro Stabilization Mounts are installed inside airplanes, the gimbals of the marine and land sector have to meet higher requirements. Installed up high on a mast of a frigate or on the back of an unmanned ground vehicle maneuvering through rough and dusty terrain, the Mounts in these application scenarios are directly exposed to harsh environmental influences such as blazing hot sun or freezing rain, which increases the stress on the material. However, even in these climatic conditions the Mount must prove that it can deliver its full power and achieve its specified performance and continuous torque. In the case of the NSM 400, this is 125 Nm and in the case of the OSM 4000, 225 Nm. This was tested by placing the payload off-center on the Mounts to setup a specific lever arm length to generate the continuous torque.

    In the first phase, tests were carried out in accordance with the marine standards IACS E10 Rev. 7 and DNV-CG-0339. Both marine gyro platforms stabilized properly in the specified high temperature range up to 55 °C and in the low temperature range down to -25 °C with residual angles of 0.07° and less.

    SOMAG Marine Mount Specifications
    Operating Low Temp. [°C]-30
    Operating High Temp. [°C]+55
    Ground Survival Low Temperature (Storage) [°C]-55
    Ground Survival High Temperature (Storage) [°C]+85
    NSM 400 installed on top of OSM 4000, both with off-center payloads

    “However, the requirements of our military customers go beyond this, just like our own specifications,” explains Arne Wollboldt, Application Engineer at SOMAG and responsible for environmental testing. NSM 400 and OSM 4000 demonstrated in the second stage that they performed perfectly even at -32°.

    Wollboldt: “Up to this point, we had expected these results. But we wanted to see what would happen if we increase the difficulty and push the Mounts further, so we also tested an operating temperature down to -40 °C. An extraordinary cold, as it occurs for example in tundra regions and the arctic ocean. To create more natural conditions, we sprayed the NSM 400 with water and covered it with a layer of ice.”

    A challenge that the surveillance sensor gimbal masters with flying colors. Thanks to its unique material, the protective bellow remains flexible and breaks the ice with the first movement, proving that the gimbal is capable of delivering best-in-class gyro stabilization for EO/IR systems even in extreme weather conditions.

    Video Marine Gyro Stabilizer Temperature Test

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    We will send you regular information about:

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