Design and implementation of a positioning system for patch antennas

Wireless communication systems use transmitter and receiver antennas, in particular, patch antennas are widely used in applications such as telemetry, nautical, mobile communications, medical, industrial and applications in buildings and homes. In this work, considering the necessity to improve the signal reception obtained with patch antenna designed for Mexican television, a remote control is developed, in order to avoid the human contact to position the antenna, which changes the impedance coupling. In addition, this control provides comfort to user. The control system uses a mechanical support structure and a control stage, which sends the corresponding signals to the microcontroller in order to control the step motors movements. These motors have the advantage to provide small steps of rotation producing a low speed. Three velocities are considered in order to increase the accuracy of the adjusting, when it will be required. The positioning system prototype was built with LEGO® MINDSTORMS®.