Electrical Feedback

We are all aware of the shift towards electrical power in vehicles. Environmental conditions demand a switch to greener sources of propulsion and operation. Olsen is at the clean ‘coal face’ of this change and is able to report a significant upturn in demand for electric-powered control systems in the space and aerospace sectors.?

Electric actuators not only offer a greener, cleaner alternative, but also one that is more reliable, more programmable, and more accurate. In order for projects to adopt these newer technologies, a number of things need to be in place.?

1. The foresight to envisage how to implement them where traditional fluid power has been used.?
2. The understanding of what these new technologies can do. New technologies can offer different options entirely so a like-for-like solution is not always the best approach.?
3. Certifications. Products that are ready to go, that have provable, demonstrable capabilities for the space, aerospace and defence sectors.?

This industry expects the very best products with market-leading specifications and capabilities. Many of the projects we look forward to seeing on display at this year’s Farnborough Airshow exhibition will be novel ideas that push the limits of what designs and components can achieve.?

We welcome these challenges as a means to continually push and develop our range and discover new capabilities. We are fortunate that the industry is project orientated, often requiring custom solutions and bespoke products. Working closely with our customers allows us to better understand the challenges that modern avionics, spacecraft and defence companies face when adopting electrical technologies.?

While we are an actuator company at heart, when we supply complete systems for projects we also need to consider the capabilities of the power electronics involved. This can mean adaptation and integration of drives into our electric actuators or sourcing the most suitable specialised drives for immediate system integration.?

By having both actuator and power electronics ranges with Mil-spec standards we are able to meet these challenges. These can include manned flight specifications, shock & vibration, EMC, traceability, power supply and voltage spikes.

We are often only able to know the true capabilities of what we can do when we are pushed into new territory by our customers. That’s what makes this industry so compelling and rewarding.?

Mil-spec certified products allow designers the immediacy to implement their ideas quickly, save money as well as time and also offer the flexibility to change their ideas if concepts do not work out. Full re-certifications are not required and design to production phases can continue with minimal hindrance.?

The majority of our extensive certifications come from this sector, and we only have them because of innovators who were bold enough to ask, “Can we do this?”. We are always happy to help find out.?