Company Overview
Zanini Auto Group is a global automotive supplier specialised in decorative and functional components for vehicles, including wheel covers and radar-transparent radome covers for ADAS systems. The Advanced R&D and Innovation Department focuses on next-generation solutions for autonomous driving sensor integration, with a strong emphasis on mmWave radar compatibility.
Role & Responsibilities
Working within the Advanced R&D and Innovation Department, supporting RF engineering activities at mmWave frequencies (77 GHz) for automotive radome applications.
Topic 1 — Motor Controller for RF Measurement Systems
Design and assembly of a motor controller to automate three distinct RF measurement setups: VNA-based radome imaging, 77 GHz automotive radar testing, and radome material characterisation. A cost-effective TMC2226 stepper motor driver was selected. Firmware developed using MBED Studio combined with STM32CubeIDE.
Topic 2 — VNA Calibration Kit for Vertical Measurement System
Reconfigured the measurement system from horizontal to vertical orientation, replacing classical TRL calibration with TRM to reduce motor actuators and improve repeatability.
Topic 3 — SAR Backpropagation from Reduced Sampling
Investigation into Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) backpropagation algorithms applied to a reduced number of spatial samples, significantly reducing total measurement time without compromising image reconstruction quality.
Additional Contributions
- SMD soldering for LED PCBs used in promotion campaigns.
- Support in self-developed FMCW radar measurement campaigns for DoA characterisation.
- Radar Target Simulator (RTS) debugging assistance.