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Show HN: Open-Source Software for Designing 3D-Printable Luneburg Lenses for RF

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Re: Show HN: Open-Source Software for Designing 3D-Printable Luneburg Lenses for RF

#31

Post by abdullahkhalids »

jboirazian wrote: post #19
mNovak wrote: post #15

As an antenna engineer myself, I'm always very glad to see tools and open source that make RF/microwave more accessible as a hobby! That said, it'd be really great if this could simply be hosted/accessed online. The intersection of RF engineer/hobbyist and knowing how to work with Docker is slim (anywhere other than HN), which detracts from the "user friendly interface".

Hi mNovak! You are 100% right on that. Im working on deploying a free version to access it online so people can check it out. Also im working on making a step by step guide so people can install it with docker and looking to other alternative ways to installing it locally

I am confused. This seems to require a single python package. Why is there any need for docker in the first place?

Re: Show HN: Open-Source Software for Designing 3D-Printable Luneburg Lenses for RF

#32

Post by jboirazian »

abdullahkhalids wrote: post #31
jboirazian wrote: post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Hi mNovak! You are 100% right on that. Im working on deploying a free version to access it online so people can check it out. Also im working on making a step by step guide so people can install it with docker and looking to other alternative ways to installing it locally

I am confused. This seems to require a single python package. Why is there any need for docker in the first place?

Luneforge is built on top of Pymesh docker image (a fast C++ Python wrapped Geometry Processing Library)

https://github.com/PyMesh/PyMesh

It requires docker cause its the best way to have all the required dependancies for Pymesh

Re: Show HN: Open-Source Software for Designing 3D-Printable Luneburg Lenses for RF

#33

Post by ChuckMcM »

GeorgeTirebiter wrote: post #29
jboirazian wrote: post #21

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Hi ChuckMcM! If you are interested , i also developed last year a PLA Luneburg lens for Band X (8Ghz to 12Ghz) using a conventional FDM printer. We obtained a 6dbm gain @10Ghz https://github.com/jboirazian/LuneburgLensGenerator https://polar.sh/jboirazian/posts/why-luneburg-lenses-are-co...

6 dB gain? 'dBm' is db gain relative to 1 milliwatt of power.

Based on the literature the measure would be 6dBi (relative to isotropic). This is often referred to as 'gain' as it represents sensitivity to the band of interest at a given angle of arrival.

Re: Show HN: Open-Source Software for Designing 3D-Printable Luneburg Lenses for RF

#35

Post by samstave »

jboirazian wrote: post #13
pradyumnabang wrote: post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If you don't mind me asking, how much does the resin cost ? Couldn't find cost info on their website.

2000 USD is the cost of the 1 liter bottle

This is a good video from Rogers: https://youtu.be/3YMRfw0uWlw

---

Noyron would be interesting to model these lenses in:

https://leap71.com/2024/06/18/leap-71-hot-fires-3d-printed-l...

https://leap71.com/Noyron/

Re: Show HN: Open-Source Software for Designing 3D-Printable Luneburg Lenses for RF

#36

Post by ta988 »

jboirazian wrote: post #27
ta988 wrote: post #18

Could this be used to make the wifi in my home do right angles and avoid walls? how big would it have to be?

hi! yes. As a matter of fact while developing this tool as my capstone project at the National Tecnological University here in Buenos Aires , im also planning on developing a 2.4Ghz lens to showcase the capabilities of the project. 2.4Ghz lenses are around 14cm diameter

Fantastic, what material are they made of?

Re: Show HN: Open-Source Software for Designing 3D-Printable Luneburg Lenses for RF

#37

Post by GeorgeTirebiter »

ChuckMcM wrote: post #33
GeorgeTirebiter wrote: post #29

Earlier quoted context omitted.

6 dB gain? 'dBm' is db gain relative to 1 milliwatt of power.

Based on the literature the measure would be 6dBi (relative to isotropic). This is often referred to as 'gain' as it represents sensitivity to the band of interest at a given angle of arrival.

Yes, antennas are normally measured relative to the theoretical 'isotropic' radiation pattern. Sometimes, dBd is used - gain relative to a dipole.

But, even then, you have pattern E and H plane measurements. https://www.data-alliance.net/blog/antenna-radiation-pattern...

We'll discuss this with an eyeball QSO in November...

Re: Show HN: Open-Source Software for Designing 3D-Printable Luneburg Lenses for RF

#38

Post by ChuckMcM »

GeorgeTirebiter wrote: post #37
ChuckMcM wrote: post #33

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Based on the literature the measure would be 6dBi (relative to isotropic). This is often referred to as 'gain' as it represents sensitivity to the band of interest at a given angle of arrival.

Yes, antennas are normally measured relative to the theoretical 'isotropic' radiation pattern. Sometimes, dBd is used - gain relative to a dipole. But, even then, you have pattern E and H plane measurements. https://www.data-alliance.net/blog/antenna-radiation-pattern... We'll discuss this with an eyeball QSO in November...

In the paper they were measuring signal gain between two antennas, and as such the 6dBm gain appears to be the effect of collating more of the beam spread into the receiver (as one would expect of a lens). Given my schedule I don't think I'll have enough time to print one by November but it would make for some excellent discussion! Reading the permittivity paper that was linked here was also quite good and I'm wondering if something could be integrated into openEMS which would tie the two together.

I'm also tickled by the idea of a 'Newtonian' RF telescope using two lenses.

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