Abstract: A lockable connector device and system is described. An example lockable connector device includes a first spherical body connected to a first end of a shaft and a plurality of appendages connected to a second end of the shaft. The appendages partially encase a second spherical body and an actuator connected to the appendages, where the actuator is comprised of synthetic muscles that compress to lock the second spherical body.

Abstract: A lockable connector device and system is described. An example lockable connector device includes a first spherical body connected to a first end of a shaft and a plurality of appendages connected to a second end of the shaft. The appendages partially encase a second spherical body and an actuator connected to the appendages, where the actuator is comprised of synthetic muscles that compress to lock the second spherical body.

Abstract: A system for running in, in which multiple PCI bus connections are each bridged to multiple boards-under-test. The presence or absence of power in each of these bus connections is monitored, and the boards-under-test are correspondingly powered up (or not). Multiple test-bed subboards are preferably used, each with multiple sockets for receiving boards-under-test with high-insertion-force connectors, and the independent power control permits the boards-under-test on one subboard to be powered off and swapped while the boards-under-test on the other subboard are still being exercised. Preferable a single movable extractor mechanism is mounted on each subboard, and can be positioned (with respect to any one of the high-insertion-force connectors) for linear extraction of the board-under-test without any torque.