EMI Shielding, Environmental Shielding and Thermal Management for Marine Drones

Drones have gained popularity because of their versatility, relatively low cost compared to other monitoring/measurement equipment, and reduction of risk to operators. These drones can operate either on the water’s surface or underneath it, and some are designed to move while others are more stationary. For added flexibility, some devices can be tethered, and in other cases they utilize WiFi communication. 

The independent nature and mission-critical operations of these applications means that great care must be taken to ensure they are durable and reliable. They face several challenges that should be considered during the design phase.

First, effective electromagnetic interference (EMI) shielding is essential. This keeps drones working effectively and doing the job they were intended to do with no disruptions or lapses in operation. Without proper EMI shielding there could be a loss of signal transmission, which could pose problems for the devices that rely on the marine drones. There are often different requirements for different types of marine drone devices.  For example, MIL-STD-461 (REQUIREMENTS FOR THE CONTROL OF ELECTROMAGNETIC INTERFERENCE CHARACTERISTICS OF SUBSYSTEMS AND EQUIPMENT) presents different emissions and susceptibility standards for Navy aircraft, submarines, and surface ships.

Environmental sealing is also critical as these devices will spend most if not all of their working times out in the ocean or other large body of water. Whether they are floating on the surface or operating deep below the surface, they will be constantly subjected to conditions including mist and salt water. In some cases, you can incorporate a dual solution in one for both EMI shielding and environmental sealing, which provides design flexibility and can reduce procurement challenges.

Finally, UUVs may need thermal management to ensure effective cooling of the navigation, monitoring, and/or data processing electronics on board. Because they’re in the water you may be able to use water temperatures to cool them to some extent, but it is also important to be able to pull heat away from the heat-generating electronics to the device housing or heat sink. 

For thermal management, high-performing THERM-A-GAP gap filler pads are an excellent choice to fill gaps between heat-generating and heat-dissipating surfaces. This family of compressible, thermally conductive elastomers comes in a range of thicknesses and can be provided on various carrier substrates such as aluminum foil with a pressure sensitive adhesive (PSA), a woven fiberglass sheet, a PEN film, or a Kapton liner. They offer great design flexibility as they are available as full sheets or can be cut to precise sizes and shapes to meet application-specific needs.

At Parker Chomerics, our customers’ success is our top priority. From our supply chain to our team of seasoned engineers, we put our customers first and ensure their needs are met.

CHO-SEAL and THERM-A-GAP products are both manufactured in the United States and bolstered by a global supply network. This allows us to meet our customers’ timelines and requirements with high-quality, reliable products without concerns for supply chain disruptions to delivery.

To further help our customers, Parker Chomerics engineers are on hand to provide design and engineering support. From selecting the right products to providing personalized design support and troubleshooting, we put our deep EMI shielding and thermal management knowledge to work for you.

Contact us today to learn about how our solutions can help keep your marine drones afloat.