Exploration of Anechoic Chamber Characterization with Autonomous Unmanned Aerial Systems

A novel system for chamber characterization by Fourier Analysis technique is explored. The system consists of a probe antenna mounted on top of an Unmanned Autonomous Vehicle (UAV) equipped with precise positioning, multi-camera tracking system, ground control station along with the fixed transmit antenna and vector network analyzer. The vector measurements are conducted in the ECUAS lab at Northeastern University wherein the probe antenna is scanned across a planar region in the quiet zone of the chamber. Multiple control techniques for UAV navigation are analyzed and the parameters are tuned to optimize the flight trajectory. The Fourier Analysis technique is applied to the scan results from the optimum trajectory for both polarizations to yield the reflectivity of the chamber and locate the reflections' hotspots.