Emission source microscopy ( ESM) based on synthetic aperture imaging principle has obvious technical advantages and application value in the field of electromagnetic interference (EMI) detection of electronic equipment, but it still needs further research and improvement in spherical imaging algorithm and system design. In view of the above requirements, this paper proposes the design method and control strategy of the manipulator system under the spherical scanning imaging task. On the system model, the manipulator configuration, spherical scanning boundary and detection antenna attitude are modeled, and the optimal spherical aperture solution method under the above constraints is explored. In terms of control strategy, manipulator control strategy based on joint angle search and the microwave microscopic imaging focusing algorithm are designed and implemented. The above models, methods and strategies achieve a 60. 21% reduction in the angle of the average joint change in the simulation experiment. In the verification experiment built by the sixaxis manipulator and the reference microwave radiation source, the automatic focusing and accurate imaging are realized ( the focusing accuracy is 0. 1 mm, and the imaging accuracy is not less than 3. 14 dBm), which is expected to be applied to EMI detection and positioning of electronic systems.