Paddle stirrer to a reverberation chamber

Abstract: Halmstad University is currently equipped with an Echo-free chamber to perform EMC testing, but no reverberation chamber. The construction of a paddle stirrer to be utilized in Halmstad University would drastically reduce the time required to perform EMC testing, since reverberation chambers are more efficient than Echo-free chambers for these kind of tests. The goal of this project was to design and develop a paddle stirrer structure and a control system able to rotate the stirrer to specific repeatable absolute angles with an accuracy of a tenth of a degree,holding a mass up to 70kg and rotating a mass up to 20 kg distributed on a 1x1m surface. To achieve this goal the system has been designed using a metal base structure, bearings to hold the lower shaft in its axes reducing its friction, a stepper motor connected to the gears to increase its holding torque, a magnetic rotary encoder and a control system with a double feedback from interrupts and from the encoder to improve the accuracy and reliability of the system. The resultis a completely working prototype, which fulfils all the requirements except for the speed. The target speed has not been achieved due to the insufficient holding torque of the available stepper motor.