What is a Robotic Near-Field Scanner? 

A robotic near-field scanner is an automatic measurement system used to measure electric or magnetic fields in detail in the near-field of a device under test (DUT). The DUT can be a PCB with circuits and components, RFID tag, LCD, models in the development stage, as well as small antenna structures. By measuring the electric or magnetic field in the near field region, it locates or identifies the EMI emission sources or faults on the DUT to solve the EMI issues.  

The PCB design engineer can use this tool in pre-compliance testing to identify the EMI emission source or faults before the EMC testing lap does and can take necessary corrective action to solve the EMI issues. Thereby, it helps to avoid unexpected results in full-compliance testing, saving time and money by avoiding revisiting the EMC testing lap.  

The robotic near-field scanner system typically uses a robotic arm-guided near-field probe (E-field or H-field probe), a spectrum analyzer, and a PC with virtualization software. The robotic controlled near-field probe (E-field or H-field probe) electrically scans any location (X, Y, Z) on the DUT with high spatial precision and detects the real EMI emission sources on the DUT. Some scanners can scan DUT in 2D, 3D, or 4D (3D plus rotation) dimensions. When the measuring probe is connected to a spectrum analyzer/EMI receiver, the results can be measured/analyzed. The PC with visualization software manages the measurement process and collects the spatial information (X, Y, Z) with the spectrum in that position to visualize the data and generate a test report. These near-field scanners are available from DC to GHz frequency range.