Emitech, a company specializing in product qualification testing in the automotive sector, has inaugurated its new vehicle test center in Montigny-le-Bretonneux (78). The Faraday cage in the new test center operates a range of Rohde & Schwarz EMC test solutions, including broadband amplifiers from the R&S BBA150, R&S BBA130 and R&S BBL200 ranges, R&S ESW44 test receivers, R&S SMB100B RF signal generators and power meters. At the inauguration ceremony in March, Rohde & Schwarz also presented its innovative solution for testing advanced driver assistance systems (Adas).
Emitech's new test center enables electromagnetic compatibility (EMC) tests to be carried out on all kinds of vehicles: two- and three-wheelers, cars, trucks, tractors, construction machinery, etc. An area dedicated to heavy loads of up to 40 tonnes accommodates construction machinery, as well as high-volume, heavy-duty equipment used in defense, aeronautics, rail, nuclear and a variety of other industrial sectors. The test center also boasts the largest and most recent Faraday cage built in France. This imposing cage is used to carry out EMC tests to ensure that the equipment under test does not generate electromagnetic interference, and is not itself disturbed by interference representative of the environment in which it will be used.
Emitech's EMC test center is equipped with amplifiers from the R&S BBA and R&S BBL ranges. These amplifiers, integrated in several racks, deliver high-power RF signals to all the transducers used in EMC tests carried out in both conducted and radiated modes. Two racks of R&S BBL200 amplifiers and an R&S BBA150 amplifier with a power class of 3 kW are installed beneath the test chamber. They enable high-intensity fields to be created over a frequency range from 9 kHz to 1 GHz. The amplifiers are connected to a stripline antenna and two log-periodic antennas. A mobile rack is also deployed inside the test chamber. Incorporating R&S BBA130 600 W/300 W power class amplifiers with a horn antenna, it is used for tests requiring high field strengths at frequencies up to 6 GHz.
R&S BBA amplifiers, which cover a frequency range up to 6 GHz, can be used for a variety of applications such as electromagnetic susceptibility measurements in accordance with different standards. R&S BBL200 power amplifiers, designed for applications requiring high field strengths, complete the test set-up. Liquid-cooled, they are ideally suited to applications requiring high RF power over a frequency range from 9 kHz to 250 MHz. These solid-state amplifiers are distinguished by their robustness, quiet operation and high efficiency. Their robustness and operating reliability are guaranteed by precise monitoring of all operating parameters. These amplifiers, designed for continuous operation, deliver constant power even under conditions of mismatch. This project, carried out by Rohde & Schwarz for the French automotive market, represents a benchmark EMC test solution.