Sealevel’s Olympic Champion

We’ve got Olympic fever. Water cooler conversations revolve around swimming, gymnastics, soccer and even fencing. Flat screens stream the latest coverage and you hear an occasional cheer from the break room. We’re particularly interested in the water sports as we have one of our own spending a lot of time in the pool. That’s right, ladies and gentlemen, our USB to RS-485 Serial Interface Adapter, or 2107 as we like to call it, is participating in the 2016 Rio Olympics.

The 2107 made its Olympic debut at the 2012 London Olympics and is back this year. In May of 2012, The Associated Press approached ABTEL Universal Technology, Inc. with a request to develop and manufacture a submerged camera system, complete with moving platform, for use in the London Olympics. Two companies had already failed to produce an appropriate product in a timely manner.

Following an initial engineering study, ABTEL proceeded to build a system with the following requirements in mind: low voltage, low profile, small and white. A still camera was housed in a water-tight dome, mounted on a pressure rated Pan and Tilt, and connected to a submerged electronics case.

Other vendors had struggled with the amount and size of the cabling but ABTEL was able to provide a solution. ABTEL employed RS-485 and used converters. And then the Sealevel 2107 came into play. By using the 2107 on the topside control unit, they were able to reduce the amount of wiring and were successfully able to work with a cable just under 19mm.

We’re happy to say that ABTEL found that the 2107 worked flawlessly. And for the 2016 Rio Olympics, two new systems were developed — both of which include the Sealevel 2107.

So while we’re cheering on our favorite athletes, we’re also pretty excited to know that we were able to contribute to a spectacle watched and enjoyed around the world. Learn more about the 2107 USB to RS-485 Serial Interface Adapter and our other USB serial adapters.