Caliente was called in on a unique application with an international manufacturer of bomb sniffing robots. The units were tasked with work in a wide range of environments, including situations where temperature and humidity could change drastically which could cause the camera's lens to fog up with condensation. In life saving situations where seconds count, this was unacceptable.

There were quite a few design constraints – there could be nothing on the lens itself, there was very little clearance in the lens area, and the goal was to use as little power as possible to preserve battery life.

Caliente designed a thick film heater that would fit around the bezel of the lens, behind a protective shroud, with a total thickness of only .006”, including the pressure sensitive mounting adhesive. In lieu of wires, the printed leads were extended back and bent 90 degress to conform along the mounting plate protecting the camera electronics. The leads were also routed around the mounting holes, which were die cut out of the heater to facilitate final assembly. An added benefit to the design was the added heat on the mounting plate kept sensitive electronics functioning properly in extreme cold.

Caliente provided the optimal heating fit, form and function to the customer, ensuring this remarkable robot could feed back critical information to its remote operator, regardless of conditions. Contact us today to assist in your mission-critical application.