Contact: Nader Behdad, behdad@wisc.edu, (608) 262-8804; John Booske, booske@engr.wisc.edu, (608) 890-0804
Madison – Antennas often need to trace circles in the sky. For example, radar arrays atop air-traffic control towers rotate to sweep signals in all directions.
But spinning large objects nonstop takes a lot of time and mechanical energy. So scanning from a stationary position could speed up long-range detection and communications.
Now, with support from a $1.1 million grant from the U.S. Office of Naval Research, University of Wisconsin-Madison electrical engineers are working out a new strategy to create antennas that spin their beams in circles while the devices stand still.
“Our approach doesn’t depend on exotic materials that bend the laws of physics,” says Nader Behdad, principal investigator on the project and UW-Madison professor of electrical and computer engineering. “We’ve found a practical way to achieve beam-steering that the antennas field has largely overlooked for many years.”
Engineers have long searched for ways to rapidly reorient radar beams, but progress has historically been slow, and existing technology is still too expensive for widespread use. Still, researchers persevere because scanning the sky can make the difference between life and death.
“In defense situations, you need to detect incoming objects or see where you are going very quickly,” says John Booske, another UW-Madison electrical and computer engineering professor and Behdad’s co-principal investigator. “The ability of a mechanical rig to move a big, heavy parabolic dish back and forth limits how quickly you can respond to potential threats.”
SEE FULL STORY AT http://news.wisc.edu/standing-
