Construction of a near-field scanning device for microwave field distribution measurements

This is a homemade experimental device that can be used for microwave near-field distribution measurements. Its scanning range is $40\,\mathrm{cm}\times 40\,\times\mathrm{cm}\times 30\,\mathrm{cm}$ , and it can perform complex scanning tasks in three-dimensional space. In order to achieve higher scalability, its motion control is based on the open-source Gcode interpreter and motion controller with slight modifications. Thus complex motion paths as well as data acquisition positions can be programmed with Gcode, which is generated by real-time slicing on the PC. Measurements of RF signals are performed by a computer-controlled vector network analyzer, and the returned test data (both amplitute and phase) is processed and presented in real time.