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IntroductionWhenLytrowantedtointroduceitsnextgenerationofwirelesscamera,theyturnedtoAavid, Thermal division of Boyd Corporation,forassistance.Aavid’sexpertiseinthermalmanagement,FEAanalysis,packagelayoutanddesignfeasibilitystudiesallowedLytrotolaunchthenewcamerainatimelyandcost-effectivemanner.

The ChallengeThecamera’sfeatureset-a4inchtouchscreen,imagesensor,variablepower(dependingonoperatingmode)PCB,solenoidactuatedmechanicalshutterandahighzoomlenswithaccompanyingmotorcontrolboard-requiredathermalsolutionthatwouldensurequalityphotographsandlongproductlife.

Thermally,themostcriticalcomponentwastheimagesensor,asitsoperatingtemperaturedirectlyaffectsthequalityofthecapturedphotographs.Keepingtemperaturedeviationsinsidethecamerabodyatorbelowtheimagesensor’slimitwastheprimaryfocusofthethermalsolution.

OtherPCBcomponents,suchasthehighcapacitybatteryandchipsubcomponentsalsocontributedtointernaltemperatureincreases.Exteriorsurfacetemperature(touchtemperature)hadtoremainundertargetlimitsduringalloperatingstatesofthecamera.

The SolutionTheAavidTeamcreatedahighlydetailedCFDmodeloftheexistingcameraconcept.Thismodel’sparameterswerefine-tuneduntiltheyreflectedthesameresultsfromactuallabtests.

WithaverifiedCFDmodelestablished,Aavidwasabletosuggestvariousinternallayoutsthatcouldimprovethermalperformance.Somemethodsthatwereemployedwere:

-Isolatingthehighpowercomponentsfromthecriticalcomponents

-Optimizingthethermalpathtotransferheatawayfromcriticalcomponents

-Materialselectionandfinishofthecamerabodytoincreaseradiantheattransfer

totheoutsideenvironment

The Deliverables/ResultsAavidprovidedLytrowithreportsdetailingtheexpectedimagesensorjunction,chip,batteryandtouchtemperaturesforvariousoperatingconditions.Allfellbelowspecifiedlimits.

Bycreatingathermalpathwaytotherearsideoftheenclosure(previouslydumpedelsewhere),overallthermalperformancewasincreased.

Aavid‘sTeamfoundthattherewassignificantthermalperformancegainedbyplacingcertainhighpowercomponentsawayfromeachotherandawayfromcriticalcomponentsonthePCB.AnoptimizedPCBlayoutbasedonthesediscoverieswassuggestedtothecustomer.

Itwasshownthatthegravityvectordidnotsignificantlyalterthermalresults;thereforethecamerawasabletooperateinanyorientationwithoutnegativethermalimpact.

UsingthedataandreportsofAavid'sfindings,Lytroapprovedtheproposedchangesandsuccessfullylaunchedtheirnextgenerationofwirelesscameras.

Lytro Wireless Camera Design Case Study