Configurable Robotic Millimeter-Wave Antenna Facility

This paper presents an overview of the development of the Configurable Robotic Millimeter-Wave Antenna ( CROMMA) facility by the Antenna Metrology Lab at the National Institute of Standards and Technology ( NIST). NIST set out to develop an antenna measurement facility that would be reconfigurable to different near-field antenna measurement geometries and perform antenna measurements from 100 to 500 GHz. An industrial robotic arm, hexapod and precision rotator were integrated to make a unique antenna measurement facility. A laser tracker with the ability to monitor and record the six degrees of freedom of a target was employed to measure and provide feedback used to correct the actual path of the robotic arm and position of the hexapod and rotator.