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ELECTRONICS 2021

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Portsmith Swoopy 3C Rugged | 2021


Portsmith Swoopy 3C Rugged | 2021
Portsmith Swoopy 3C Rugged | 2021

Designers: Blake Pachner, Portsmith Project Team, SGW Designworks, LLC, Boise, Idaho, USA
Manufacturer: Portsmith, Boise, Idaho, USA


Portsmith Swoopy 3C Rugged | 2021
Portsmith Swoopy 3C Rugged | 2021

Project Description

Portsmith builds adapters and docks for enterprise IT applications. As a well-established player in that market, Portsmith has built a reputation for ultra-high reliability in their products.

For over a decade, they have led the enterprise USB-to-Ethernet adapter market. Portsmith USB-to-Ethernet adapters are commonly found in critical- infrastructure IT systems, manufacturing, ultra-high-end home theater systems, and applications where low-cost consumer-grade adapters are inadequate.

In 2018, Portsmith introduced their USB-C-to-Ethernet adapter which enjoyed immediate market adoption. In 2020, Portsmith recognized demand for USB-C-to-Ethernet adapters in military and defense applications.

While the existing product met the functional needs of these use-cases, military users in the field need a higher degree of ruggedness. Portsmith engaged SGW Designworks (their sister company) to develop a new ultra-rugged USB-C-to-Ethernet adapter. The product was named “Swoopy 3 Rugged”.

Approach
SGW Designworks initiated the project by identifying the most demanding use-cases that the product would be part of. In defense applications, the product would be used to connect equipment to field computers for data transfer and programming.

This may be on-base or even on the battlefield. Swoopy 3 Rugged would need to function flawlessly, even when beaten, battered, and neglected.
For internals, the proven chipset used in the original Portmsith USB-C-to-Ethernet adapter would be carried over.

The original unit included a female USB-C jack on the side of the unit for “piping in” power. For the Swoopy 3 Rugged, this was changed from a jack to a cable, enabling different approaches for manufacturing of the new enclosure.

The industrial designers at SGW Designworks defined the exterior geometry of the swoopy 3 Rugged to —first and foremost— provide durability.
The look of the product would need to be familiar to personnel and operators on the ground and would need to be easy to manipulate with gloved hands.
The resulting exterior geometry fits well in the hand and provides good grip –even when wet. The look evokes other military products in which form largely follows function.

Different colors used in the final product indicate specific variations of the product. For example, a WTR (Wide Temperature Range) product may be olive drab, while the standard unit may be offered in traditional Portsmith Blue, Coyote Tan, or Ash Grey.

SGW Designworks engineers specified materials and production processes that fully encapsulated the PCBA using two-stage injection molding. This ensures protection from moisture, resistance to impact, and more.

Results
The new design was prototyped in the SGW Designworks lab, using hand-built PCBAs, custom-built cables, and urethane-cast housings for initial testing.
After two quick iterations, the design was finalized, and the design package was ported to the manufacturing group. Manufacturing started in summer of 2021.