A Source Stirred Reverberation Chamber Using a Robotic Arm

Abstract

In a reverberation chamber, the stirring efficiency of the source stir technique is very high. However, to apply the source stir, the configuration (position, orientation, or polarization) of the transmitting (Tx) antenna has to be changed every time in the stirring process. To solve this problem, we use a three-dimensional printed robotic arm to control the position and orientation of the Tx antenna; thus, the source stirring process can be performed automatically. The measurement results are validated and compared with that from mechanical stirrers. Figures of merit such as autocorrelation, average K-factor, and total scattering cross-section are presented. The statistical distribution is also verified by using Kolmogorov-Smirnov test. Results show that the source stir technique outperforms the mechanical stirring technique significantly.