The MID4Auto consortium met in Paderborn on 23–24 July 2024 for a two‑day WP2 System Integration Workshop, hosted at Fraunhofer IEM. Partners from Fujikura, UPB, NXP, Astron, Perisens, TUE, IEM, Konrad, and MID Solutions participated either in person or online.
The workshop opened on Tuesday afternoon with an introduction and a recap of the system design and requirements, led by Fujikura. This session clarified the architecture of the Single‑Channel Demo, based on the block diagram and the requirements documentation.
Subsequent sessions introduced the NXP reference system, the EPIC chip developed at UPB, and Astron’s FOTD module including first integration considerations. These technical briefings ensured that all partners shared a common understanding of the components to be integrated into the photonic radar demonstrator.
The first day concluded with a joint session on characterization and testing design, moderated by Konrad and Fujikura. Here, partners discussed which tests would be required for the demo and how they should be executed, including necessary materials and partner contributions.
The second day focused entirely on embedding the system into the MID structure. During the morning and early afternoon, the consortium worked toward a unified concept for antenna type, antenna design, feed strategy, materials, and manufacturing technology.
Partners presented and aligned their integration ideas, aiming to converge on a feasible and coherent implementation approach.
Later in the afternoon, the group moved on to development and task planning, defining the remaining development items, their dependencies, and responsibilities across partners. This session provided the basis for generating a connected project timeline
The workshop concluded with a final recap, open questions, and next steps. With a clearer shared understanding of the system architecture, integration strategy, and testing plan, the consortium left Paderborn well prepared for the next phase of WP2 development.
