Posted by John Keller

MIDDLETON, Wis., 15 June 2010. Extreme Engineering Solutions (X-ES) in Middleton, Wis., is introducing the 8.8 pound XPand4200, a sub-half-ATR, forced-air-cooled enclosure for conduction-cooled modules for embedded computing in vetronics and avionics applications in unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), helicopters, fixed-wing aircraft, armored vehicles, and unmanned ground vehicles (UGVs).

Electronics thermal management in the XPand4200 conducts heat from conduction-cooled boards to heat exchangers, where the heat is dissipated to the ambient environment by forced-air cooling. The design supports conduction-cooled boards in an air-tight enclosure, and provides enhanced shock and vibration protection and isolation of the boards from the outside environment.

The XPand4200 is designed to reduce the size, weight, and power (SWaP) of deployed military systems. A populated XPand4200 weighs less than 15 pounds and can accommodate many as six conduction-cooled, 0.8-inch-pitch 3U VPX or 3U CompactPCI X-ES single-board computers or power supply modules, and the XPand4200 can be configured with custom I/O with conduction-cooled PMC or XMC modules from X-ES or from other companies.

The XPand4200 has an optional removable memory module attachment that supports the XPort6191 solid state disk (SSD) removable storage module, with 64 gigabytes of storage capacity. The unit supports Gigabit Ethernet, graphics, RS-232/RS-422, MIL-STD-1553, ARINC 429, as well as custom conduction-cooled PMC/XMC I/O through D38999 circular connectors.

An optional front-panel USB port provides system monitoring and maintenance capabilities. Power supply options support to 200 Watts from a MIL-STD-704 28-volt DC or 115-volt AC input. "One customer says the XPand4200 has allowed them to decrease a 35-pound two chassis solution to one chassis weighing less than 15 while increasing both functionality and performance," says Jeff Porter, senior systems engineer at X-ES.

For more information contact X-ES online at http://xes-inc.com.