I am working on a project, that has 2 separate PCBs in one enclosure, those PCBs should talk on 20 pins (GPIO). The entire system is prone to low to moderate vibrations. While there is no concern around PCBs themselves, I am rather concerned about the connection between them. I so far see 3 choices:
- Rigid connection via IDC connectors 1.27mm pitch THT. This seems to be fairly cheap option, but considering vibrations, will require some additional mount points between PCBs to avoid disconnect due to slippage and also it will probably cause some strain on the connector solder joints.
- Ribbon cable using IDC connectors. That seems to be middle ground on price, avoids strain on connector solder joints, but it is bulky and still would probably be prone to slippage?
- FFC cable - seems to be most compact non-rigid solution, but rather expensive and I have no idea whether it is reliable in environment with vibrations.
I am so far inclined more towards option 2. But I don't know whether this is a good choice and whether I am missing some aspect that would result in unexpected failures.
I guess my questions are -- is the analysis of each option above correct? Is there any other option I overlooked?