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Professor Arakaki and students tour Jet Propulsion Laboratory
May, 2003
 | | Student Newlyn Hui at one of the indoor ranges |
Professor Arakaki and four electrical engineering
students (Jake Schaffner, Chris Brito, Aloysius Lubiano, and Newlyn
Hui) traveled to Pasadena last March to visit the Jet Propulsion Laboratory
to learn how the company configures and utilizes anechoic chambers
for antenna development. JPL engineers Bill Pickett and Bob Beckon
hosted the tour, which went to three indoor ranges and five outdoor
ranges at the site. The students then were able to take what they
learned at the JPL and apply it to developing the EE department?s
own antenna anechoic chamber currently under construction.
More about Anechoic chambers, from Professor
Arakaki:
?The word anechoic means absence of echoes
(an- echo). An antenna anechoic chamber simulates an infinite free
space environment. If an antenna radiates energy in the vacuum of
infinite space, the radiation travels away from the antenna. No
material exists for the radiation to bounce off and reflect back
to the antenna. This allows the measurement of the antenna's characteristics
without the effects of nearby objects. An anechoic chamber uses
radiation absorbing foam on the walls to absorb nearly all radiation
emitted by the antenna to simulate the infinite free space environment.
We will use the anechoic chamber to measure radiation
patterns on the Polysat satellite project (Cal Poly) and microstrip
antennas used in cell phones and wireless internet connections.
Radiation patterns indicate how much energy an antenna radiates
in particular directions. Our chamber includes a positioner and
controller (pictures on my website) that detects radiation at specific
angles to construct a radiation pattern for the antenna under test.
I will also develop a set of experiments to complement the EE 533
antennas course.
We will also use the chamber to measure electromagnetic
noise, known as EMI (electromagnetic interference) emanating from
various electronic equipment such as computers and test instruments.
Anechoic chambers are needed to prevent the reflection of radiation
from adjacent objects and obtain accurate measurements.?
More Information
Jet Propulsion Laboratory Home: http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/
Professor Arakaki?s Homepage (Including more pictures of the
tour): http://www.ee.calpoly.edu/~darakaki/
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