Contact: Sam Million-Weaver, perspective@engr.wisc.edu
DOWNLOAD IMAGES: https://uwmadison.box.com/v/vehicle-antennas
ANTENNA DESIGN TURNS ENTIRE VEHICLES INTO BROADCASTING EQUIPMENT
MADISON – High-frequency antennas transmit radio waves across vast distances and even over mountain ranges using very little energy, making them ideal for military communications. These devices, however, have one big problem: They need to be huge to operate efficiently.
Instead of adding more bulk, University of Wisconsin-Madison engineers are working to increase the effective size of antennas by turning the military vehicles that carry them into transmitters – using the structures that support the antennas themselves to help broadcast signals.
Troops in remote locations need to communicate by radio and move quickly, unencumbered by heavy and unwieldy equipment. However, antennas need to be at least one-quarter the length of the radio waves they transmit in order to operate efficiently. High-frequency military signals use radio waves ranging from roughly a football field in length to the distance of a successful first down – 10 yards. Even at the small end, the ideal size for an antenna is taller than an average adult.
“Unsurprisingly, we don’t use antennas that are that big,” says Nader Behdad, an associate professor and Harvey D. Spangler Faculty Scholar in electrical and computer engineering at UW-Madison. “Putting a big, long antenna on top of an amphibious assault vehicle would be too high-profile.”
