Automated Antenna CAD for Installed Performance Assessment and Optimization

Our team proposes to expand the capabilities of an existing software tool so that is capable of producing CAD models and associated configuration information for representative antenna designs given the type of information that can be found on a vendor's specification sheet. The user will select an antenna type from a database of antennas and specify design objectives. An underlying computational engine will be used as the basis for an optimization engine that creates designs to meet the objectives specified. The approach for creating representative designs for antennas will be demonstrated using realistic example antennas. Performance metrics will be developed to assess the accuracy of the approach. A list of common antennas employed on NAVAIR aircraft will be compiled and mapped to existing antenna types supported by Antenna Magus. If there is a need for additional antenna models, they will be developed. A study will be conducted to assess the accuracy of using representative designs versus the actual antenna design for installed antenna performance analyses. The proposed tool will also include a capability for searching the antenna database according to specific applications. This database will also allow the user to save, organize and share representative designs developed by NAVAIR.