Automatic test system of multi-channel radar power divider

Abstract

The invention discloses an automatic test system of a multichannel radar power divider, and relates to the technical field of radars, the automatic test system carries out unified control by using an embedded system, and the embedded system controls an execution mechanical arm to install a power divider to be tested on a power divider fixing seat. The position of each port in the to-be-tested power divider is positioned through a camera at a tail end executor of the execution mechanical arm in combination with an image processing technology; the radio frequency cables are grabbed, the quick-plug connectors at the ends of the radio frequency cables are inserted into the corresponding ports of the power divider to be tested according to the positions of the ports in the power divider to be tested, automatic channel switching is achieved through the radio frequency switch network, and automatic testing and data summarization can be achieved through the vector network analyzer. The testing efficiency is improved, manual operation and reading errors are avoided, and the actual production testing requirement is met.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present application relates to the field of radar technology, and in particular to an automatic testing system for a multi-channel radar power divider. Background Art

[0002] Radar power divider is an important passive or active device in the phased array weather radar system. It can divide the energy of one input signal into two or more outputs with equal or unequal energy, and conversely combine the energy of multiple signals into one output.

[0003] The performance of radar power dividers is an important part of ensuring the performance of meteorological radar systems. Therefore, testing the technical indicators of radar power dividers is an important part of the mass production process of meteorological radar systems. At present, the common practice is to manually test and record data, but radar power dividers have the characteristics of a large number of channels (usually more than 30 channels), large size (length, width, thickness of more than 1100mm×300mm×20mm), and heavy weight. Manual testing of each radar power divider requires multiple plug-in and unplugging of cables to switch to test different channels, which is inefficient and prone to manual errors. Summary of the invention

[0004] In view of the above problems and technical requirements, this application proposes an automated test system for a multi-channel radar power divider. The technical solution of this application is as follows:

[0005] An automated testing system for a multi-channel radar power divider, the automated testing system comprising a power divider fixing seat, an execution mechanical arm for completing posture calibration, an embedded system, a vector network analyzer, and a radio frequency switch network;

[0006] The radio frequency switch network includes two analyzer connection ports and K power divider connection ports, and each analyzer connection port is connected to each power divider connection port through the radio frequency switch network; the integer parameter K≥2;

[0007] The two analyzer connection ports of the RF switch network are respectively connected to the two ports of the vector network analyzer through RF links, and each power divider connection port is connected to one end of a RF cable, and the other end of each RF cable is equipped with a quick-connect connector matching the port specifications of the radar power divider;

[0008] The embedded system is respectively connected to the radio frequency switch network, the vector network analyzer and the execution robot arm in communication. The automated test method executed by the embedded system includes:

[0009] Controlling the execution robot arm to install the power divider to be tested on the power divider fixing seat, and locating the positions of various ports in the power divider to be tested by using the camera at the end effector of the execution robot arm in combination with the image processing technology, wherein the ports of the power divider to be tested include a joint port and multiple branch ports, and the total number of ports does not exceed K;

[0010] Controlling the execution robot arm to grab the RF cable and inserting the quick-connect connectors at the ends of each RF cable into the corresponding ports of the power distributor to be tested according to the positions of each port in the power distributor to be tested;

[0011] The switching state of the RF switch network is controlled to continuously conduct the RF link between an analyzer connection port and the power divider connection port connected to the combined port of the power divider to be tested, and switch to conduct the RF link between another analyzer connection port and the power divider connection ports connected to each branch port, and use a vector network analyzer to analyze the power channel between the combined port and the conducted branch port in the power divider to obtain the test result of the power divider to be tested.

[0012] A further technical solution is that the execution robot arm comprises a palletizing robot arm and a cable connecting robot arm, the end effector of the palletizing robot arm is a gripper, and the end effector of the cable connecting robot arm is a three-finger gripper;

[0013] The embedded system controls the execution robot arm during the test process, including: controlling the stacking robot arm to grab and carry the power divider to be tested to the power divider fixing seat through the gripper, and controlling the cable connection robot arm to grab the hexagonal screw surface of the quick-connect plug at the end of the RF cable on the RF cable placement rack through the three-finger gripper and move and insert it into the port of the power divider to be tested;

[0014] After the test is completed, the embedded system controls the execution robot arm, including: controlling the cable connection robot arm to grasp the hexagonal screw surface of the quick-connect plug at the end of the RF cable through a three-finger gripper, pull it out from the port of the tested power divider and put it back into the RF cable placement rack; controlling the stacking robot arm to grasp and move the tested power divider from the power divider fixing seat through a clamp and place it on the placement rack for the tested power divider.

[0015] A further technical solution is that each RF cable has a unique cable identifier, the power distributor to be tested has a unique port identifier at each port, and the control method of the embedded system for the cable docking mechanical arm includes:

[0016] Control the cable connecting robot arm to move to the RF cable placement rack and adjust the posture so that the camera at the end effector of the cable connecting robot arm faces the cable identifier of the RF cable on the RF cable placement rack, obtain the image of the cable identifier of the RF cable to be grasped through the camera at the end effector of the cable connecting robot arm and perform image recognition, and then control the cable connecting robot arm to grasp the quick-connect plug at the end of the RF cable;

[0017] The cable connecting robot arm is controlled to drive the quick-connect plug at the end of the RF cable to move to the power divider fixing seat and adjust the posture so that the camera at the end effector of the cable connecting robot arm faces the power divider to be tested, the image of the power divider to be tested is obtained by the camera at the end effector of the cable connecting robot arm, and image recognition is performed to determine the port identification of one of the vacant ports, the position of the port is determined by conversion, the cable connecting robot arm is controlled to drive the quick-connect plug at the end of the RF cable to move to the position of the port and insert it into the port, and the corresponding relationship between the port identification and the cable identification of the RF cable is recorded to record the corresponding relationship between the port and the RF cable.

[0018] A further technical solution is that the automated testing method performed by the embedded system further includes:

[0019] The control execution mechanical arm installs the calibration tooling on the power divider fixing seat, and the calibration tooling includes a normally functioning calibration power divider and a single-pole four-throw switch connected to each calibration port of the calibration power divider; the calibration tooling forms K calibration ports externally, and the calibration ports include a calibration closing port and multiple calibration branch ports, and each calibration port of the calibration tooling is respectively connected to a fixed end of the single-pole four-throw switch, the first active end of the single-pole four-throw switch is grounded through a load resistor, the second active end is correspondingly connected to a port of the calibration power divider, the third active end is suspended, and the fourth active end is directly grounded; the calibration closing port of the calibration tooling corresponds to the closing port connected to the calibration power divider, and the K-1 calibration branch ports of the calibration tooling correspond to the K-1 branch ports connected to the calibration power divider; the embedded system wirelessly connects and controls each four-throw switch in the calibration tooling;

[0020] Control the execution robot arm to grab the RF cables connected to the K power divider connection ports and insert them into the K calibration ports of the calibration tooling respectively;

[0021] After controlling the vector network analyzer to switch to the calibration state, the calibration tooling is tested to obtain the link calibration result;

[0022] After the test result of the power divider to be tested is obtained after the test is completed, the test result of the power divider to be tested is corrected by using the link calibration result.

[0023] A further technical solution is to control the vector network analyzer to switch to the calibration state and then test the calibration tooling to obtain the link calibration result, including:

[0024] Control the switch state of the RF switch network to conduct the RF link between one analyzer connection port and the power divider connection port connected to the calibration joint in the calibration tooling, and conduct the RF link between another analyzer connection port and the power divider connection port connected to the kth calibration branch in the calibration tooling, with an integer parameter of 1≦k≦K;

[0025] Control the single-pole four-throw switch connected to the calibration joint to switch to the first active end, the first three active ends and the fourth active end in sequence and record the test result of the vector network analyzer, and control the single-pole four-throw switch connected to the k-th calibration branch to switch to the first active end, the first three active ends and the fourth active end in sequence and record the test result of the vector network analyzer, and control the single-pole four-throw switch connected to the calibration joint to switch to the second active end and control the single-pole four-throw switch connected to the k-th calibration branch to switch to the second active end and record the test result of the vector network analyzer; perform SOLT calibration based on the test result of the vector network analyzer to obtain the link calibration result of the calibration joint and the k-th calibration branch;

[0026] Let k=k+1 and perform again the step of conducting the radio frequency link between another analyzer connection port and the power divider connection port connected to the kth calibration branch port in the calibration tooling until k=K.

[0027] A further technical solution is that the automated testing method performed by the embedded system further includes:

[0028] At predetermined intervals or when the number of the power dividers to be tested that are continuously tested by the automated test reaches a quantity threshold, the calibration tooling is retested and the link calibration result is updated.

[0029] A further technical solution is that the automated test system further includes a host computer for network communication with the embedded system;

[0030] When the embedded system controls the conduction of the radio frequency link between an analyzer connection port and the power divider connection port connected to the combined port of the power divider to be tested, and conducts the radio frequency link between another analyzer connection port and the power divider connection port connected to the i-th branch port, the voltage standing wave ratio of the combined port and the i-th branch port at each frequency point is obtained through the vector network analyzer, and the logarithmic amplitude and phase between the combined port and the i-th branch port are obtained to obtain the power channel test data between the combined port and the i-th branch port and upload them to the host computer;

[0031] The host computer is used to summarize the power channel test data between the joint and each branch port to obtain the test result of the power distributor to be tested.

[0032] A further technical solution is that the host computer aggregates the power channel test data between the joint and each branch port to obtain the test result of the power distributor to be tested, including:

[0033] Determine the voltage standing wave ratio of each port of the power divider to be tested at different frequencies;

[0034] And according to converting the logarithmic amplitude of each branch port into power and summing the logarithmic amplitude during forward transmission between the combined port and each branch port, the insertion loss of the power divider to be tested is obtained;

[0035] and calculating the deviation of the logarithmic amplitude of each branch port from the reference logarithmic amplitude during forward transmission between the combined port and any i-th branch port to obtain the port insertion loss deviation of the i-th branch port;

[0036] And determine the maximum value of the logarithmic amplitude of each branch port when reverse transmission occurs between the combined port and each branch port to obtain the isolation of the power divider to be tested;

[0037] and determining the maximum value of the absolute value of the phase deviation between different branch ports according to the phase between the combined port and each branch port during forward transmission;

[0038] And calculate the maximum absolute value of the phase deviation between the phase during forward transmission between the joint and each branch and the reference phase.

[0039] A further technical solution is that the execution robot arm also includes a fastening robot arm, and the end effector of the fastening robot arm is a screwdriver head;

[0040] The embedded system controls the execution robot arm during the test process, and further includes: controlling the stacking robot arm to grab and carry the power divider to be tested to the power divider fixing seat, aligning the fastening screws on the power divider to be tested with the fixing holes on the power divider fixing seat, controlling the fastening robot arm to fasten the fastening screws on the power divider to be tested to the fixing holes on the power divider fixing seat through a screwdriver head, and then controlling the cable connection robot arm to insert the quick-connect plug at the end of the RF cable into the port of the power divider to be tested;

[0041] After the test is completed, the embedded system controls the execution robot arm, including: controlling the cable connection robot arm to pull out the RF cable from the port of the power divider to be tested, controlling the fastening robot arm to loosen the fastening screws on the power divider to be tested from the fixing holes on the power divider fixing seat through the screwdriver head, and then controlling the stacking robot arm to grab and move the tested power divider from the power divider fixing seat.

[0042] Its further technical solution is that the stacking robot arm, the fastening robot arm and the cable connecting robot arm are respectively arranged in the robot arm sliding rails, and the power divider fixing seat, the RF cable placement rack, the power divider to be tested placement rack, and the power divider placement rack after the test are respectively arranged at different operating stations along the robot arm sliding rails.

[0043] The beneficial technical effects of this application are:

[0044] The present application discloses an automated testing system for a multi-channel radar power divider. The system utilizes an embedded system for unified control, utilizes a robotic arm in combination with image recognition technology to perform various handling and cabling operations, utilizes a radio frequency switch network to achieve automated channel switching, and then utilizes a vector network analyzer for automated testing and data aggregation. This system not only improves the test efficiency, but also avoids manual operation and reading errors, and can better meet the automated testing of large-volume, multi-channel radar power dividers in existing meteorological radar systems and meet actual production test needs.

[0045] The system can also perform regular calibration during automated testing using calibration fixtures, thereby reducing measurement errors during testing and improving test accuracy. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0046] Figure 1 It is a schematic diagram of the working status of the automated testing system in one embodiment of the present application.

[0047] Figure 2 This is another working state schematic diagram of the automated testing system in one embodiment of the present application.

[0048] Figure 3 It is a schematic diagram of the structure of the quick-connect connector at the end of each radio frequency cable in this application.

[0049] Figure 4 It is a schematic structural diagram of the end effector of the cable connecting robot arm in one embodiment.

[0050] Figure 5 is a schematic diagram of the internal structure of the RF switch network in an example.

[0051] Figure 6 It is a schematic diagram of the structure of a calibration tooling in an embodiment.

[0052] Figure 7 It is a flowchart of an automated testing method implemented in one embodiment of the present application. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0053] The specific implementation of the present application is further described below in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

[0054] The present application discloses an automated testing system for a multi-channel radar power divider, which is used for automated testing of a multi-channel radar power divider in a weather radar system. The multi-channel radar power divider includes a plurality of ports, which include a combined port and a plurality of branch ports, and a power channel is formed between each combined port and a branch port, thereby forming a plurality of power channels internally. When testing the multi-channel radar power divider, it is necessary to test each port and each power channel. For example, in one example, the multi-channel radar power divider includes a total of 31 ports, which are a combined port C and 30 branch ports, respectively written as S1 to S30.

[0055] Please refer to Figure 1 The automated testing system of the present application includes a power divider fixing base 110, an execution robot arm for completing posture calibration, an embedded system, a vector network analyzer, and a radio frequency switch network.

[0056] The RF switch network includes two analyzer connection ports and K power divider connection ports, with an integer parameter K ≥ 2. Since the multi-channel radar power divider targeted by this application usually contains more than 30 channels, K ≧ 31 in fact. Each analyzer connection port is connected to each power divider connection port through the RF switch network. When the switching state of the RF switch network is different, the analyzer connection port can be connected to different power divider connection ports via the RF switch network. The RF switch network is constructed by multiple switching state-variable selection switches, and the specific switch network architecture is constructed according to actual needs.

[0057] The two analyzer connection ports of the RF switch network are connected to the two ports of the vector network analyzer through RF links. Each power splitter connection port of the RF switch network is connected to one end of the RF cable 120, and the other end of each RF cable 120 is equipped with a quick-plug connector 121 that matches the port specifications of the radar power divider. In order to facilitate the distinction of descriptions, the RF cables 120 with quick-plug connectors connected to the 1st to Kth analyzer connection ends of the RF switch network are respectively recorded as L1 to LK in this application. In order to facilitate storage and placement, in actual application, each RF cable L1 to LK is arranged on the RF cable placement rack 130 through a quick-plug connector, and the cable part can droop naturally. Since different RF cables are connected to different power splitter connection ports, in order to facilitate the distinction of RF cables at different power splitter connection ends, each RF cable has a unique cable identification, and the power splitter connection port of the RF switch network to which the RF cable is connected can be determined by the cable identification of the RF cable. In actual implementation, the cable identification uses an image identification code, such as a QR code or a barcode, so that it can be identified by image processing technology.

[0058] The embedded system is connected to the RF switch network, the vector network analyzer and the execution robot arm for communication. In practical applications, the embedded system establishes a network connection with the vector network analyzer, and the embedded system performs communication control on the RF switch network and the execution robot arm respectively. The communication control here can adopt wired communication control or wireless communication control. In addition, the automated test system also includes a host computer, and the embedded system establishes a network connection with the host computer. The embedded system is used to control the vector network analyzer, the RF switch network and the execution robot arm to realize automated testing, and summarize the acquired data to the host computer for further data processing.

[0059] The automated testing method implemented by the automated testing system of the present application includes the following process, and the following automated testing method is executed by the embedded system:

[0060] 1. Assembling the power divider to be tested 100

[0061] The power divider 100 to be tested in the present application is any multi-channel radar power divider, and the ports of the power divider 100 to be tested include a joint port and multiple branch ports. Since the radio frequency switch network has only K power divider connection ports, the total number of ports of the power divider 100 to be tested that can be tested by the automated test system does not exceed K. In order to distinguish different ports of the power divider 100 to be tested, the power divider 100 to be tested has a unique port identifier at each port.

[0062] In this assembly stage, the embedded system controls the execution robot arm to install the power divider 100 to be tested on the power divider fixing seat 110, and locates the position of each port in the power divider 100 to be tested by combining the camera at the end effector of the execution robot arm with the image processing technology. Then the execution robot arm is controlled to grab the RF cable and insert the quick-connect connector 121 at the end of each RF cable 120 into the corresponding port of the power divider 100 to be tested according to the position of each port in the power divider to be tested.

[0063] In this process, the execution robot arm needs to complete a variety of different operations, each of which is performed by a different end effector. One approach is to use a multifunctional end effector at the end of the execution robot arm and perform different operations by switching different end effectors. However, in order to facilitate the parallel execution of different operations to improve efficiency, the execution robot arm includes a stacking robot arm 141 and a cable connection robot arm 142.

[0064] The embedded system's control of the robotic arm includes:

[0065] The embedded system controls the stacking robot arm 141 to grab the power distributor 100 to be tested through the end effector. The end effector of the stacking robot arm 141 is a gripper, which adopts a gripper or a vacuum suction cup, such as Figure 1 Take the palletizing robot 141 as an example. Then control the palletizing robot 141 to carry the power divider 100 to be tested to the power divider fixing seat 110. Figure 2 shown.

[0066] In addition, a camera is arranged at the end effector of the stacking robot arm 141. In actual application, the power distributor 100 to be tested is uniformly arranged at the placement rack of the power distributor to be tested. After the embedded system controls the stacking robot arm 141 to move to the placement rack of the power distributor to be tested, the camera at the end effector of the stacking robot arm 141 is used to capture images and position the power distributor to be tested in combination with image processing technology, thereby controlling the gripper to accurately grasp the power distributor to be tested 100 according to the positioning result. Similarly, when the embedded system controls the stacking robot arm 141 to drive the power distributor to be tested 100 to move to the power divider fixing seat 110, the camera at the end effector of the stacking robot arm 141 is used to capture images and position the power divider fixing seat 110 in combination with image processing technology, thereby controlling the power distributor to be tested 100 to be accurately placed on the power divider fixing seat 110 according to the positioning result.

[0067] For easy installation, the power divider 100 to be tested generally has its own fastening screws 101. In order to ensure the stability of the subsequent cable connection and testing process, the power divider 100 to be tested can be fixed with its own fastening screws. The corresponding power divider fixing seat 110 has fixing holes 111, and the number and position of the fixing holes 111 match the fastening screws on the power divider 100 to be tested. Figure 1 For example, the power divider 100 to be tested has four fastening screws 101, and the corresponding power divider fixing base 110 has fixing holes 111. In addition, in order to facilitate the adaptation of different power dividers, the power divider fixing base 110 is provided with multiple groups of different fixing holes to adapt to the fixing screws of power dividers of different specifications.

[0068] The execution robot arm also includes a fastening robot arm 143, and the end effector of the fastening robot arm 143 is a screwdriver head. When the embedded system controls the stacking robot arm 141 to accurately place the power divider 100 to be tested on the power divider fixing seat 110, the fastening screw 101 on the power divider 100 to be tested is aligned with the fixing hole 111 on the power divider fixing seat 110. Then the fastening robot arm 143 is controlled to fasten the fastening screw 101 on the power divider 100 to be tested in the fixing hole 111 on the power divider fixing seat 110 through the screwdriver head. A camera is also provided at the end effector of the fastening robot arm 143. When the embedded system controls the fastening robot arm 143 to move to the power divider fixing seat 110, the image is captured by the camera at the end effector of the fastening robot arm 143 and the image processing technology is used to locate the fastening screws 101 on the power divider to be tested 100, so that the screwdriver head can be accurately used to act on the fastening screws 101 on the power divider to be tested 100 according to the positioning result.

[0069] After the power divider 100 to be tested is assembled on the power divider fixing seat 110, the embedded system controls the cable connecting robot 142 to grab the hexagonal screw surface of the RF cable end quick-connect plug on the RF cable placement rack 130 through the end effector and move it to insert it into the port of the power divider to be tested, such as Figure 2 The quick-connect plug at the end of the RF cable is in the form of a hexagonal nut, as shown in Figure 3 As shown, the end effector of the cable connecting robot arm 142 is a three-finger gripper and the three-finger gripper is adapted to the quick-connect plug at the end of the RF cable. Please refer to Figure 4 .

[0070] A camera is also arranged at the end effector of the cable connecting robot arm 142. The embedded system controls the cable connecting robot arm 142 specifically as follows: the embedded system controls the cable connecting robot arm 142 to move to the RF cable placement rack 130 and adjusts the posture so that the camera at the end effector of the cable connecting robot arm 142 faces the cable identifier of the RF cable on the RF cable placement rack 130, and the camera at the end effector of the cable connecting robot arm obtains the image of the cable identifier of the RF cable to be grasped and performs image recognition, and then controls the cable connecting robot arm 142 to grasp the quick-connect plug at the end of the RF cable. Then the embedded system controls the cable connecting robot arm 142 to drive the quick-connect plug at the end of the RF cable to move to the power divider fixing seat 110 and adjusts the posture so that the camera at the end effector of the cable connecting robot arm faces the port identifier on the power divider to be tested, and the camera at the end effector of the cable connecting robot arm 142 obtains the image of the power divider to be tested 100 and performs image recognition to determine the port identifier of one of the vacant ports, and then determines the position of the port through the coordinate conversion relationship determined during the calibration of the robot arm. The cable connecting robot 142 is further controlled to drive the quick-connect plug at the end of the RF cable to move to the position of the port and insert it into the port, and the corresponding relationship between the port and the RF cable is recorded by recording the corresponding relationship between the port identifier of the port and the cable identifier of the RF cable.

[0071] In order to improve the efficiency of assembly and wiring, some of the above operations can be performed in parallel. For example, when the embedded system controls the fastening robot arm 143 to tighten the fastening screws, it controls the cable connecting robot arm 142 to move to the RF cable placement rack 130 to grab the RF cable. For another example, multiple cable connecting robot arms 142 are set to perform the above cable connecting operations in parallel to quickly connect all ports of the power divider 100 to be tested with the RF cables. In addition, considering that the actual operating space is relatively large, the stacking robot arm 141, the fastening robot arm 143 and the cable connecting robot arm 142 are respectively arranged in the robot arm sliding guide rail 150, and the power divider fixing seat 110, the RF cable placement rack 130, and the placement rack of the power divider 100 to be tested are respectively arranged at different operating stations along the robot arm sliding guide rail 150. The stacking robot arm 141 moves to the placement rack of the power divider 100 to be tested, grabs the power divider 100 to be tested, moves to the power divider fixing seat 110 to place the power divider 100 to be tested, and then drives away from the power divider fixing seat 110. Then, the tightening robot arm 143 moves to the power divider fixing seat 110 to tighten the fastening screws, and after tightening, drives away from the power divider fixing seat 110. The cable connection robot arm 142 moves to the placement rack 130 of the RF cable, grabs the RF cable, and then moves to the power divider fixing seat 110 to dock with the port of the power divider 100 to be tested.

[0072] 2. Automated testing of all channels of the power divider 100 to be tested

[0073] After the assembly is completed, the embedded system controls the switching state of the RF switch network to continuously conduct the RF link between an analyzer connection port and the power divider connection port connected to the closing port C of the power divider 100 to be tested, and switches to conduct the RF link between another analyzer connection port and the power divider connection ports connected to each branch port of the power divider 100 to be tested, and uses a vector network analyzer to analyze the power channel between the closing port and the conducting branch port in the power divider to be tested to obtain the test result of the power divider to be tested.

[0074] The power divider connection port of the RF switch network to which each RF cable is connected is fixed, and the correspondence between the RF cable and the port will be recorded when the RF cable is inserted into the port of the power divider 100 to be tested, so that the power divider connection port to which each port of the power divider 100 to be tested is connected can be determined. After the circuit structure of the RF switch network is pre-designed and determined, the switch state when the analyzer connection port is connected to each power divider connection port can be determined, thereby switching the connection analyzer connection port to connect to different ports of the power divider 100 to be tested.

[0075] The RF switch network includes a first group of input networks, a second group of input networks and an output network. The first group of input networks is formed by a plurality of switches and includes an input and K outputs. The second group of input networks is formed by a plurality of switches and includes an input and K outputs. The input of the first group of input networks and the input of the second group of input networks are respectively connected to two analyzer connection ports of the RF switch network. The output network includes K single-pole double-throw switches. The two active ends of the same single-pole double-throw switch are respectively connected to an output of the first group of input networks and an output of the second group of input networks. The fixed end of the single-pole double-throw switch is connected to a power divider connection port of the RF switch network. For example, in one example, Figure 5As shown, the RF switch network includes two analyzer connection ports, Q1 and Q2, and 36 power divider connection ports, P1 to P36, respectively. The RF switch network includes a total of 14 single-pole six-throw switches and 36 single-pole double-throw switches, wherein single-pole six-throw switches 1 to single-pole six-throw switches 7 form a first group of input networks, single-pole six-throw switches 8 to single-pole six-throw switches 14 form a second group of input networks, and 36 single-pole double-throw switches form an output network. The fixed end of single-pole six-throw switch 1 is connected to the analyzer connection port Q1 as the input of the first group of input networks, and the six active ends of single-pole six-throw switch 1 are respectively connected to the fixed ends of single-pole six-throw switches 2 to 7, and all 36 active ends of single-pole six-throw switches 2 to 7 serve as 36 outputs of the first group of input networks. The fixed end of the single-pole six-throw switch 8 is connected to the analyzer connection port Q2 as the input of the second group of input networks, and the six active ends of the single-pole six-throw switch 8 are respectively connected to the fixed ends of the single-pole six-throw switches 9 to 14, and all 36 active ends of the single-pole six-throw switches 9 to 14 are used as the 36 outputs of the second group of input networks. The first output of the first group of input networks and the first output of the second group of input networks are connected to the two active ends of the first single-pole double-throw switch in the output network, and the fixed end of the first single-pole double-throw switch is connected to the power divider connection port P1. Similarly, other structures are also connected in this way until they are connected to the power divider connection port P36.

[0076] After the RF switch network is determined, the RF link between any analyzer connection port and any power splitter connection port is fixed and known. Combined with the connection relationship between the determined power splitter connection port and the port of the power splitter to be tested, the switch state when switching on different ports of the power splitter to be tested can be determined. Figure 5 In the figure, the power divider connection ports P1 to P30 are respectively connected to the 30 branch ports S1 to S30 of the power divider to be tested, and the power divider connection port P31 is connected to the port C of the power divider to be tested. It can be determined that when the single-pole six-throw switch 1 is connected to the single-pole six-throw switch 2, the single-pole six-throw switch 2 is connected to the single-pole double-throw switch 1, and the single-pole double-throw switch 1 is connected to the single-pole six-throw switch 2, the port 1 of the vector network analyzer connected to the analyzer connection port Q1 can be connected to the branch port S1 of the power divider to be tested, and the others are analogous.

[0077] When controlling the radio frequency link between an analyzer connection port and the power divider connection port connected to the joint C of the power divider to be tested, and conducting the radio frequency link between another analyzer connection port and the power divider connection port connected to the i-th branch port, using a vector network analyzer to test the power channel between the joint C and the i-th branch port includes: setting the analysis frequency band of the vector network analyzer to the frequency band used by the power divider 100 to be tested. In one example, the power divider 100 to be tested is a radar power divider in a P-band weather radar system, and then setting the vector network analyzer to the P-band (470-500MHz, frequency 470MHz). In addition, the test items of each display interface are set to S11, S22, S21, and S12, wherein S11 and S22 are set to output in the form of VSWR, and S21 and S12 are set to output in the form of logarithmic amplitude and phase, and the corresponding acquisition frequency of the display interface is set. Therefore, the voltage standing wave ratio VSWR of the combined port and the i-th branch port at each frequency point is obtained through a vector network analyzer, and the logarithmic amplitude and phase between the combined port and the i-th branch port are obtained to obtain the power channel test data between the combined port and the i-th branch port and upload it to the host computer.

[0078] After completing the above test and obtaining the power channel test data of the combined port and the i-th branch port, switch to the RF link between another analyzer connection port and the power divider connection port connected to the i+1-th branch port, and repeat the above test process until all channels of the power divider 100 to be tested are tested.

[0079] Then the host computer summarizes the power channel test data between the joint and each branch port to obtain the test results of the power distributor to be tested, including:

[0080] (1) Determine the voltage standing wave ratio of each port of the power divider to be tested at different frequencies.

[0081] (2) The insertion loss of the power divider to be tested is obtained by converting the logarithmic amplitude of each branch port into power and summing the logarithmic amplitude when forward transmission is carried out between the combined port and each branch port.

[0082] (3) and calculating the deviation between the logarithmic amplitude of each branch port and the reference logarithmic amplitude during forward transmission between the combined port and any i-th branch port to obtain the port insertion loss deviation of the i-th branch port.

[0083] (4) The isolation of the power divider to be tested is obtained by determining the maximum value of the logarithmic amplitude of each branch port during reverse transmission between the combined port and each branch port.

[0084] (5) Determine the maximum absolute value of the phase deviation between different branch ports based on the phase between the combined port and each branch port during forward transmission.

[0085] (6) Calculate the maximum absolute value of the phase deviation between the phase during forward transmission between the joint and each branch and the reference phase.

[0086] After the test of the power divider 100 to be tested is completed, the cable connecting robot arm 142 is controlled to unplug the RF cable from the port of the tested power divider 100 and put it back into the RF cable placement rack 130. Similarly, during the unplugging process, the cable connecting robot arm 142 is first controlled to move to the tested power divider 100 of the power divider fixing seat 110, and then the camera at the end effector of the cable connecting robot arm 142 is used to obtain an image and locate the quick-connect plug at the end of the RF cable in combination with image recognition technology, so as to accurately locate the quick-connect plug, and then the cable connecting robot arm 142 is controlled to adjust the posture and use the three-finger gripper to grab the hexagonal screw surface of the quick-connect plug at the end of the RF cable and unplug it from the port of the tested power divider and move it to the RF cable placement rack 130, and the camera at the end effector of the cable connecting robot arm 142 is also used to obtain an image and locate the layout position on the RF cable placement rack 130 in combination with image recognition technology, so as to accurately put the RF cable back into the RF cable placement rack 130.

[0087] Then the stacking robot arm 141 is controlled to grab and move the tested power divider from the power divider fixing seat 110 through the clamp and place it on the placement rack of the tested power divider, and the placement rack of the tested power divider is also arranged at the corresponding operation station along the robot arm sliding guide rail 150. When the power divider is fastened to the power divider fixing seat 110 by fastening screws, first the fastening robot arm 143 is controlled to loosen the fastening screws on the tested power divider from the fixing holes on the power divider fixing seat 110 through the screwdriver head, and then the stacking robot arm is controlled to grab and move the tested power divider from the power divider fixing seat. Similarly, when controlling the tightening mechanical arm 143 to loosen the fastening screws, first control the tightening mechanical arm 143 to move to the power divider on the power divider fixing seat 110, then use the camera at the end effector of the tightening mechanical arm 143 to capture images and combine image recognition technology to locate each fastening screw, and then use the screwdriver head at the end of the tightening mechanical arm 143 to loosen the fastening screws. When controlling the stacking mechanical arm 141 to carry the tested power divider, first control the stacking mechanical arm 141 to move to the power divider on the power divider fixing seat 110, then use the camera at the end effector of the stacking mechanical arm 141 to capture images and combine image recognition technology to locate the entire power divider, and then use the end clamp of the stacking mechanical arm 141 to clamp the tested power divider and move it to the placement rack. When placing, the camera at the end effector is also used in combination with image recognition technology to achieve accurate placement. Then the above method can be automatically repeated to continue testing the next power divider to be tested, thereby realizing automated testing.

[0088] On this basis, in order to improve the test accuracy, a calibration mechanism is also provided in one embodiment, including: before testing the power divider to be tested, firstly controlling the execution robot arm to install the calibration tooling on the power divider fixing seat 110. Please refer to Figure 6 The calibration tooling includes a normally working calibration power divider and a single-pole four-throw switch connected to each calibration port of the calibration power divider. The calibration tooling forms K calibration ports externally, and the calibration ports include a calibration joint TC and multiple calibration branches. For example, corresponding to Figure 5 In the case of K=36, Figure 6 Take the calibration tooling including a calibration joint TC and 35 calibration branches T1~T35 as an example. Each calibration port of the calibration tooling is respectively connected to the fixed end of a single-pole four-throw switch, the first active end of the single-pole four-throw switch is grounded through a load resistor (such as 50Ω), the second active end corresponds to a port of the calibration power divider, the third active end is suspended, and the fourth active end is directly grounded. The calibration joint TC of the calibration tooling corresponds to the joint C connected to the calibration power divider, the K-1 calibration branches of the calibration tooling correspond to the K-1 branches connected to the calibration power divider, and the embedded system wirelessly connects and controls the switch status of each four-throw switch in the calibration tooling.

[0089] When the control execution robot arm is used to install the calibration tooling on the power divider fixing seat 110, the method is the same as the installation of the power divider to be tested. The calibration tooling is also moved by the stacking robot arm and then tightened by the fastening robot arm. Then the control execution robot arm grabs the RF cables connected to the K power divider connection ports and inserts them into the K calibration ports of the calibration tooling respectively. Specifically, the cable connection robot arm is used to complete this operation and record the connection correspondence between the RF cable and the calibration port. It is the same as the cable connection operation of the power divider to be tested, and will not be repeated here. Then the control vector network analyzer is switched to the calibration state to test the calibration tooling to obtain the link calibration result. After the test result of the power divider to be tested is obtained, the link calibration result is used to correct the test result of the power divider to be tested, including:

[0090] Control the switching state of the RF switch network to conduct the RF link between an analyzer connection port Q1 and the power divider connection port connected to the calibration joint TC in the calibration tooling, and conduct the RF link between another analyzer connection port Q2 and the power divider connection port connected to the kth calibration branch port in the calibration tooling.

[0091] Control the single-pole four-throw switch connected to the calibration joint to switch to the first active end, the first three active ends and the fourth active end in sequence and record the test results of the vector network analyzer; control the single-pole four-throw switch connected to the k-th calibration branch to switch to the first active end, the first three active ends and the fourth active end in sequence and record the test results of the vector network analyzer; control the single-pole four-throw switch connected to the calibration joint to switch to the second active end, and control the single-pole four-throw switch of the k-th calibration connection to switch to the second active end, and record the test results of the vector network analyzer. Then, SOLT calibration can be performed based on the test results of the vector network analyzer to obtain the link calibration results of the calibration joint and the k-th calibration branch. The specific method and principle of SOLT calibration will not be repeated here. Let k=k+1 and perform the steps of conducting the RF link between another analyzer connection port and the power divider connection port connected to the k-th calibration branch in the calibration tooling again until k=K. In this way, the combination of all calibration joints and calibration branches can be tested and the link calibration results can be obtained. This process can move the standard plane from port 1 and port 2 of the vector network analyzer to the interface of the quick-plug connector of each RF cable. At this time, the vector network analyzer records the normalized incident voltage and reflected voltage at the calibration plane, so that the attenuation and phase change on the link (from port 1 and port 2 of the vector network analyzer to the interface of the quick-plug connector of each RF cable) can be calculated and recorded. In this way, the impact of the link when testing the power divider will be controlled within a certain error range.

[0092] In addition, at each predetermined time interval or when the number of power dividers to be tested continuously by the automated test reaches a quantity threshold, the calibration tooling is retested and the link calibration result is updated to minimize the test error caused by mechanical loss of the RF link, such as Figure 7 shown.

[0093] The above is only a preferred embodiment of the present application, and the present application is not limited to the above embodiments. It is understood that other improvements and changes directly derived or associated by those skilled in the art without departing from the spirit and concept of the present application should be considered to be included in the protection scope of the present application.

Claims

1. An automated test system for a multi-channel radar power divider, characterized in that: The automated testing system includes a power divider fixing base, an execution robot arm for completing posture calibration, an embedded system, a vector network analyzer, and a radio frequency switch network; The radio frequency switch network includes two analyzer connection ports and K power splitter connection ports, each analyzer connection port is connected to each power splitter connection port through the radio frequency switch network; the integer parameter K≥2; The two analyzer connection ports of the RF switch network are respectively connected to the two ports of the vector network analyzer through RF links, and each power divider connection port is connected to one end of a RF cable, and the other end of each RF cable is equipped with a quick-connect connector that matches the port specifications of the radar power divider; The embedded system is respectively connected to the radio frequency switch network, the vector network analyzer and the execution robot arm in communication, and the automated testing method performed by the embedded system includes: Control the execution mechanical arm to install the power divider to be tested on the power divider fixing seat, and locate the positions of various ports in the power divider to be tested by using a camera at the end effector of the execution mechanical arm in combination with image processing technology, wherein the ports of the power divider to be tested include a joint and multiple branch ports, and the total number of ports does not exceed K; Control the execution robot arm to grab the radio frequency cable and insert the quick-connect connectors at the ends of each radio frequency cable into the corresponding ports of the power distributor to be tested according to the positions of each port in the power distributor to be tested; The switching state of the radio frequency switch network is controlled to continuously conduct the radio frequency link between an analyzer connection port and the power divider connection port connected to the combined port of the power divider to be tested, and switch to conduct the radio frequency link between another analyzer connection port and the power divider connection ports connected to each branch port, and use a vector network analyzer to analyze the power channel between the combined port and the conducted branch ports in the power divider to be tested to obtain the test result of the power divider to be tested.

2. The automated testing system according to claim 1, characterized in that: The execution robot arm includes a palletizing robot arm and a cable connecting robot arm. The end effector of the palletizing robot arm is a gripper, and the end effector of the cable connecting robot arm is a three-finger gripper. The embedded system controls the execution robot arm during the test process, including: controlling the stacking robot arm to grab and carry the power divider to be tested to the power divider fixing seat through the gripper, and controlling the cable connection robot arm to grab the hexagonal screw surface of the quick-connect plug at the end of the RF cable on the RF cable placement rack through the three-finger gripper and move and insert it into the port of the power divider to be tested; The embedded system controls the execution robot arm after the test is completed, including: controlling the cable connection robot arm to grasp the hexagonal screw surface of the quick-connect plug at the end of the radio frequency cable through a three-finger gripper, and pull it out from the port of the power divider after the test and put it back into the radio frequency cable placement rack; controlling the stacking robot arm to grasp and move the tested power divider from the power divider fixing seat through a clamp and place it on the placement rack for the tested power divider.

3. The automated testing system according to claim 2, characterized in that: Each radio frequency cable has a unique cable identifier, the power distributor to be tested has a unique port identifier at each port, and the control method of the embedded system for the cable docking mechanical arm includes: Control the cable connecting robot arm to move to the RF cable placement rack and adjust the posture so that the camera at the end effector of the cable connecting robot arm faces the cable identifier of the RF cable on the RF cable placement rack, obtain the image of the cable identifier of the RF cable to be grasped through the camera at the end effector of the cable connecting robot arm and perform image recognition, and then control the cable connecting robot arm to grasp the quick-connect plug at the end of the RF cable; The cable connecting robot arm is controlled to drive the quick-connect plug at the end of the RF cable to move to the power divider fixing seat and adjust the posture so that the camera at the end effector of the cable connecting robot arm faces the power divider to be tested, the image of the power divider to be tested is obtained by the camera at the end effector of the cable connecting robot arm, and image recognition is performed to determine the port identification of one of the vacant ports, the position of the port is determined by conversion, the cable connecting robot arm is controlled to drive the quick-connect plug at the end of the RF cable to move to the position of the port and insert it into the port, and the corresponding relationship between the port identification and the cable identification of the RF cable is recorded by recording the corresponding relationship between the port identification and the cable identification of the RF cable.

4. The automated testing system according to claim 1, characterized in that: The automated testing method performed by the embedded system also includes: The execution robot arm is controlled to install the calibration tooling on the power divider fixing seat, the calibration tooling includes a normally functioning calibration power divider and a single-pole four-throw switch connected to each calibration port of the calibration power divider; the calibration tooling forms K calibration ports externally, and the calibration ports include a calibration closing port and multiple calibration branch ports, each calibration port of the calibration tooling is respectively connected to a fixed end of the single-pole four-throw switch, the first active end of the single-pole four-throw switch is grounded through a load resistor, the second active end is correspondingly connected to a port of the calibration power divider, the third active end is suspended, and the fourth active end is directly grounded; the calibration closing port of the calibration tooling corresponds to the closing port connected to the calibration power divider, and the K-1 calibration branch ports of the calibration tooling correspond to the K-1 branch ports connected to the calibration power divider; the embedded system wirelessly connects and controls each four-throw switch in the calibration tooling; Controlling the execution robot arm to grab the radio frequency cables connected to the K power splitter connection ports and insert them into the K calibration ports of the calibration tooling respectively; After controlling the vector network analyzer to switch to a calibration state, the calibration tooling is tested to obtain a link calibration result; After the test result of the power divider to be tested is obtained after the test is completed, the test result of the power divider to be tested is corrected by using the link calibration result.

5. The automated testing system according to claim 4, characterized in that: After controlling the vector network analyzer to switch to the calibration state, testing the calibration tooling to obtain the link calibration result includes: Control the switch state of the radio frequency switch network to conduct the radio frequency link between one analyzer connection port and the power divider connection port connected to the calibration joint in the calibration tooling, and conduct the radio frequency link between another analyzer connection port and the power divider connection port connected to the kth calibration branch in the calibration tooling, with an integer parameter of 1≦k≦K; Control the single-pole four-throw switch connected to the calibration joint to switch to the first active end, the first three active ends and the fourth active end in sequence and record the test result of the vector network analyzer, and control the single-pole four-throw switch connected to the k-th calibration branch to switch to the first active end, the first three active ends and the fourth active end in sequence and record the test result of the vector network analyzer, and control the single-pole four-throw switch connected to the calibration joint to switch to the second active end and control the single-pole four-throw switch connected to the k-th calibration branch to switch to the second active end and record the test result of the vector network analyzer; perform SOLT calibration based on the test result of the vector network analyzer to obtain the link calibration result of the calibration joint and the k-th calibration branch; Let k=k+1 and perform again the step of conducting the radio frequency link between another analyzer connection port and the power divider connection port connected to the kth calibration branch port in the calibration tooling until k=K.

6. The automated testing system according to claim 4, characterized in that: The automated testing method performed by the embedded system also includes: At predetermined intervals or when the number of the power dividers to be tested that are continuously tested by the automated test reaches a quantity threshold, the calibration tooling is retested and the link calibration result is updated.

7. The automated testing system according to claim 1, characterized in that: The automated testing system also includes a host computer that performs network communication with the embedded system; When the embedded system controls the conduction of the radio frequency link between an analyzer connection port and the power divider connection port connected to the combined port of the power divider to be tested, and conducts the radio frequency link between another analyzer connection port and the power divider connection port connected to the i-th branch port, the voltage standing wave ratio of the combined port and the i-th branch port at each frequency point is obtained through the vector network analyzer, and the logarithmic amplitude and phase between the combined port and the i-th branch port are obtained to obtain the power channel test data between the combined port and the i-th branch port and upload them to the host computer; The host computer is used to collect the power channel test data between the joint and each branch to obtain the test result of the power distributor to be tested.

8. The automated testing system according to claim 7, characterized in that: The host computer summarizes the power channel test data between the joint and each branch port to obtain the test results of the power distributor to be tested, including: Determine the voltage standing wave ratio of each port of the power divider to be tested at different frequencies; And according to converting the logarithmic amplitude of each branch port into power and summing the logarithmic amplitude during forward transmission between the combined port and each branch port, the insertion loss of the power divider to be tested is obtained; and calculating the deviation of the logarithmic amplitude of each branch port from the reference logarithmic amplitude during forward transmission between the combined port and any i-th branch port to obtain the port insertion loss deviation of the i-th branch port; And determine the maximum value of the logarithmic amplitude of each branch port when reverse transmission occurs between the combined port and each branch port to obtain the isolation of the power divider to be tested; and determining the maximum value of the absolute value of the phase deviation between different branch ports according to the phase between the combined port and each branch port during forward transmission; And calculate the maximum absolute value of the phase deviation between the phase during forward transmission between the joint and each branch and the reference phase.

9. The automated testing system according to claim 1, characterized in that: The execution robot arm also includes a fastening robot arm, and the end effector of the fastening robot arm is a screwdriver head; The embedded system controls the execution robot arm during the test process, further comprising: controlling the stacking robot arm to grab and carry the power divider to be tested to the power divider fixing seat, aligning the fastening screws on the power divider to be tested with the fixing holes on the power divider fixing seat, controlling the fastening robot arm to fasten the fastening screws on the power divider to be tested to the fixing holes on the power divider fixing seat through a screwdriver head, and then controlling the cable connection robot arm to insert the quick-connect plug at the end of the RF cable into the port of the power divider to be tested; The embedded system controls the execution robot arm after the test is completed, including: controlling the cable connection robot arm to pull out the radio frequency cable from the port of the power divider to be tested, controlling the fastening robot arm to loosen the fastening screws on the power divider to be tested from the fixing holes on the power divider fixing seat through a screwdriver head, and then controlling the stacking robot arm to grab and move the tested power divider from the power divider fixing seat.

10. The automated testing system according to claim 9, characterized in that: The stacking robot arm, the fastening robot arm and the cable connecting robot arm are respectively arranged in the robot arm sliding rails, and the power divider fixing seat, the RF cable placement rack, the power divider to be tested placement rack, and the power divider placement rack after the test are respectively arranged at different operating stations along the robot arm sliding rails.

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