AMETEK NSI-MI designs and manufactures specialized motion simulation systems to precisely simulate the movement of physical entities for use in virtual reality trainers and testers and for physical testing needs. We specialize in the areas of aerospace and defense enabling simulation for missiles, decoys and more.
RF Target Simulators
The evaluation of RF sensors often requires a test capability where various RF scenes are presented to the unit under test (UUT). These scenes may need to be dynamic, represent multiple targets and/or decoys, emulate dynamic motion, and simulate real world RF environmental conditions. An RF target simulator can be employed to perform these functions. The total test system is usually called hardware-in-the-loop (HWIL) involving the sensor mounted on a flight motion simulator (FMS), the RF target simulator presenting the RF scene, and a simulation computer that dynamically commands everything in real time.
NSI-MI Technologies has designed and delivered several versions of target simulators as turnkey systems. The systems accept real-time commands from the customer’s simulation computer to dynamically create the desired target motion with desired angle of arrival accuracy. Our systems engineering expertise has allowed us to scale and tailor the system to meet the unique needs of each customer.
Ideal for:
Anywhere an RF sensor must respond to spatially moving RF signals- 5G massive MIMO communication
- Automotive radar
- Array calibration
- Target detection and tracking
- Missile seekers
- Weapons fire control
- EW counter-measures
- Traffic control
Moving Emitters
In the simplest of RF target simulators, target motion is created and presented to the UUT by electromechanically moving one or more emitters, representing targets along a spherical surface with the UUT at the focal point of the sphere.
Read the technical paper: Electromechanical RF Target Simulator
Moving Target and Decoy
Compact Range - Moving Reflector
- Portable compact range to interface with flight motion simulator (FMS)
- The hexapod provides six degrees of dynamic motion for the reflector creating target motion
- Reflector moves to create target signals from various angles of arrival
- Oversized test zone always covers required test zone
A portable anechoic compact range creates very high dynamic target motion by mechanically moving the compact range reflector, thereby changing the angle of arrival of the plane wave presented to the UUT. The mobile nature of the range allows the customer mate it with the UUT on an FMS when they want to test and to detach and roll away the chamber when they want to use the test chamber for purposes other than RF testing.
Read the technical paper: NSI-MI Portable RF Target Simulator
Array of Emitters
- This approach can achieve virtually unlimited velocities and accelerations of multiple targets with no occlusion and no moving parts
- It can move a target from one end of the FOV to the other in one update frame and back again in another. The dynamics of the motion are only limited by the update frame rate and the FOV
- The wall of emitters can operate in the near field, to an extent, reducing the size of the range
- Multiple targets can overlap on the wall, passing through each other, combined target signal comes out of emitters
