JP2000198498A - Space probe travel vehicle - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To reduce an occupied space of a space probe travel vehicle having the radiative heat radiation function and solar cell panel function, which is needed to attain these functions. SOLUTION: A circular radiator 8 serveing as a heat radiating surface of a self-contained electronic apparatus is installed in the upper face of a body 2, and the radiator 8 is covered with a concentric umbrella-like solar cell panel 3. A panel opening and closing actuator 10 is operated in response to information on the surface temperature of the built-in electronic apparatus to open panel elements 5a, 5a or a part of panel elements 5, 5... forming the solar cell panel 3 to display the radiative heat radiation function.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a space exploration vehicle used for exploring the moon and planets.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art As a lunar surface exploration traveling vehicle also called a lunar rover vehicle, for example, as shown in FIG. 4, a vehicle body 51 having six wheels 52, 52.
In addition to a visual sensor 53 and a manipulator 54 such as a D camera, a solar cell panel 55 and a high-gain antenna 56
And the like, and a thermal louver 57 provided on the upper surface of the vehicle body 51 is known.

The thermal louver 57 is a so-called active type thermal control element. Since a large number of electronic devices are built in the vehicle body 51, the thermal louver 57 is overlaid on the heat radiating surface of these devices, and the thermal louver 57 is connected to the space. By changing the effective emissivity with the space, the electronic device automatically controls the temperature fluctuation of the electronic device. That is, the thermal louver 57 is composed of a bimetal serving as a sensor and an actuator, and a number of blades 58 having an optical surface. The operating principle is as follows. And the expansion and contraction of the bimetal due to radiation generates a rotational force on the blade shaft, and the blades 58, 58.

[0004]

In such a conventional traveling vehicle for lunar exploration, a solar cell panel 55 and a thermal louver 57 having a large occupied area are separated from each other.
Because they are independent, the layout of various devices mounted inside the vehicle body 51 is significantly restricted, and there is naturally a limit in reducing the size of the vehicle body 51 itself.

The present invention has been made in view of the above-described problems, and has a radiation radiating function and a solar cell panel function equivalent to those of a thermal louver, but occupies an occupied area required to achieve those functions. An object of the present invention is to provide a structure which is remarkably reduced in size and which enables a vehicle itself for space exploration to be reduced in size and weight.

[0006]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a solar cell panel in which a heat radiating surface of an electronic device incorporated in the vehicle body is formed on an upper surface of the vehicle body and the heat radiating surface is covered. Is provided, and the heat radiation state between the solar radiation panel and the outer space is controlled by positively opening and closing the solar cell panel.

The traveling vehicle according to the first aspect of the present invention is often used for lunar surface exploration or planetary exploration.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the first aspect of the invention, a circular heat radiation surface is formed on the upper surface of the vehicle body, and an umbrella including a plurality of panel elements covers the heat radiation surface. A solar cell panel having a shape is provided, and the opening degree of some of the plurality of panel elements is positively variably controlled.

The invention described in claim 3 is the same as the invention in claim 2
The solar cell panel according to the invention described in (1) is characterized by being rotatable around its axis as a rotation center.

Further, according to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in the third aspect of the present invention, the vehicle body itself is formed as a circle or a regular polygon in plan view.
Most of the upper surface of the car body is a circular heat dissipation surface,
The solar battery panel is characterized by being arranged concentrically with the vehicle body so as to cover the entire heat dissipation surface.

Therefore, according to the first aspect of the present invention,
Even if the heat radiating surface of the predetermined electronic device built into the vehicle body and the solar cell panel overlap with each other in position,
The solar cell panel performs its intended function because part or all of the solar cell panel is oriented in the direction of the sun. On the other hand, when the heat radiating surface of the electronic device is covered with the solar cell panel, it becomes a closed space, and heat control such as radiation heat radiation cannot be performed. Therefore, the actuator for opening and closing the solar cell panel is operated according to the temperature information and the like of the heat radiating surface, and the opening degree of the solar cell panel is positively variably controlled with this,
Promote heat exchange with outer space. As a result, a function equivalent to that of the conventional thermal louver is exhibited.

According to the first aspect of the present invention, when the entire solar cell panel is opened and closed, it may not be possible to direct the direction of the sun depending on the degree of opening.

In view of the above, in the invention according to the second aspect, only a part of the solar cell panel composed of a plurality of panel elements is configured to be openable and closable, and only the opening degree of the part of the panel element is changed. Is positively variably controlled, thereby achieving both a function equivalent to the thermal louver and an original function of the solar cell panel.

According to the second aspect of the present invention, even if only some of the panel elements are opened and closed, the original function of some of the panel elements may still be impaired depending on the degree of opening. I have.

Therefore, according to the third aspect of the present invention, the solar cell panel including the openable and closable panel element is rotated with respect to the vehicle body to maintain the function equivalent to that of the thermal louver while maintaining the function of the solar cell panel. Is directed to the direction with the highest energy efficiency, and efficient operation becomes possible.

Furthermore, in the invention according to claim 4, most of the upper surface of the vehicle body formed in a circular or regular polygonal plane shape is a circular heat radiating surface, and the entire heat radiating surface is formed on the solar cell panel. It is the most efficient in terms of both thermal control and space.

[0017]

According to the first aspect of the present invention, while the heat radiation surface of the electronic device on the upper surface of the vehicle body is covered with the solar cell panel, this solar cell panel is actively opened and closed to adjust the opening degree. By controlling the heat radiation state (radiation heat radiation state) with the outer space, the function as a conventional thermal louver and the original function of the solar cell panel can coexist in a small space, As a result, there is an effect that it is possible to contribute to a reduction in the size and weight of the vehicle for the space exploration and eventually of the vehicle for space exploration.

According to the second aspect of the present invention, only a part of the plurality of panel elements forming the solar cell panel is opened and closed. No matter what direction the panel element is oriented, the original function of the solar cell panel is not lost.

According to the third aspect of the present invention, since the solar cell panel composed of a combination of a plurality of panel elements is rotatable with respect to the vehicle body as described above, an openable / closable panel is provided. Since the solar panel can be directed in the direction with the highest energy efficiency as a whole, while maintaining the opening of the element, the solar panel can exhibit its maximum performance while exhibiting the function of a so-called thermal louver There is an effect that can be.

Further, according to the invention described in claim 4,
4. The invention according to claim 3, wherein most of the upper surface of the vehicle body formed as a circular or regular polygonal plane has a circular heat dissipation surface, and the entire heat dissipation surface is covered with a solar cell panel. In addition to the same effects as described above, the most efficient in terms of both thermal control and space, it is possible to further reduce the size and weight of the space exploration traveling vehicle.

[0021]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS FIGS. 1 to 3 show a preferred embodiment of a traveling vehicle for space exploration according to the present invention applied to a traveling vehicle for lunar surface exploration. FIG. 2 is a plan view when the solar cell panel is closed, FIG. 2 is a plan view in the state of FIG. 1, and FIG. 3 is a plan view when the solar cell panel is closed.

As shown in FIGS. 1 to 3, a lunar surface exploration vehicle 1 is roughly divided into a substantially flat cylindrical vehicle body 2 and an umbrella-shaped vehicle mounted concentrically on the vehicle body 2. Solar cell panel 3 and four wheels 4 and 4 attached to the lower part of body 2
….

The vehicle body 2 has built-in control devices for driving and controlling the wheels 4, 4... And electronic devices such as various communication devices and measuring devices. An articulated manipulator 7 for sampling and proximity measurement is mounted. A circular radiator 8 for heat exchange is mounted on the upper surface of the vehicle body 2 so as to occupy a large part of the heat. The heat generated by the various electronic devices described above is generated by a heat pipe (not shown). The radiator 8 is guided by the radiator 8, and the radiator 8 is completely covered by the solar cell panel 3. Thus, the radiator 8 substantially functions as a heat radiation surface of the built-in electronic device.

On the other hand, the solar cell panel 3 is formed as a regular hexagon by combining six substantially regular triangular panel elements 5, 5,... And a cover plate 6 at the center. Two of the plurality of panel elements 5, 5... Forming the solar cell panel 3 are connected to the adjacent panel element 5 by hinges 9, respectively. The two panel elements 5a, 5a have a structure that can be opened and closed by a so-called double door system. Each panel element 5 is provided on a part of the outer peripheral surface of the vehicle body 2.
A panel opening / closing actuator 10 such as an independent motor is provided for each of the panel elements 5a, 5a.
5a is driven to open and close steplessly to an arbitrary angle.

The solar cell panel 3 is rotatably supported on the vehicle body 2 about its axis as a center of rotation, and is driven to rotate by the operation of a solar cell panel rotating actuator 16 such as a motor. I have.

On the left and right side surfaces of the vehicle body 2, suspension arms 11 extending in the front-rear direction are arranged in parallel with each other.
And is supported by the vehicle body 2 in a swingable manner. At both ends of each suspension arm 11, a wheel support arm 14 having a vertical axis as a rotation center is pivotably supported via a steering unit 13, and a wheel is mounted on a horizontal axle 15 of each wheel support arm 14. 4 are individually supported. Each of the wheels 4 is individually driven to rotate by a drive motor (not shown), and is individually steered for each of the wheels 4. As a whole, a four-wheel drive and four-wheel steering type Lunar exploration traveling vehicle 1
It has become.

Therefore, in the traveling vehicle for lunar exploration 1 constructed as described above, the operation on the lunar surface is as shown in FIG.
If the drive control and steering control of the wheels 4, 4... And the control of the manipulator 7 are performed by remote control in the state shown in FIG. 1, the intended purpose of lunar exploration can be achieved. At this time, electric power required for operation is provided by a battery (not shown) built in the vehicle body 2 and a power generation function of the solar cell panel 3.

On the other hand, in radiation radiation (radiation cooling) as heat control of various electronic devices built in the vehicle body 2, the surface temperature information of each electronic device itself or the heat radiation surface temperature information of the radiator 8 is opened and closed by a panel element. Feedback is made to the panel opening / closing actuators 5a, 5a, and the panel opening / closing actuator 10 is operated in accordance with the temperature information to open each panel element 5a, 5a to a predetermined opening. As a result, the degree of exposure of the radiator 8 to the outside world and, consequently, the degree of radiation and heat radiation change, and a function equivalent to that of a thermal louver is exhibited. Temperature fluctuation can be suppressed.

Conversely, when the operation as the lunar surface exploration vehicle 1 is suspended at night, the panel elements 5a,
When the 5a is completely closed, the radiator 8 can be completely covered by the solar cell panel 3, so that the radiator 8 and the built-in electronic devices and the like can be used even if the moon surface is in a very low temperature environment. It can be reliably protected from environmental changes.

Here, as shown in FIG. 1, when the two panel elements 5a, 5a are opened, the panel elements 5a, 5a become part of the solar cell panel 3 depending on the direction of the traveling vehicle 1 itself. May not work effectively. Therefore, in such a case, the panel element 5
With the a and 5a opened, the solar cell panel rotation actuator 16 is operated to rotate the entire solar cell panel 3, and the orientation of the solar cell panel 3 is changed to the direction in which the power generation efficiency becomes the best. By doing so, efficient operation with excellent energy efficiency becomes possible as the solar cell panel 3 while maintaining the function as a thermal louver.

As described above, according to the present embodiment, the radiator 8 and the solar cell panel 3 are substantially positioned while having the same function as the conventional thermal louver and the function as the solar cell panel 3. Since they completely overlap, the occupied space required for realizing both functions can be significantly reduced.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a view showing a first embodiment of the present invention, and is an explanatory side view when a part of a solar cell panel is opened by applying to a traveling vehicle for lunar exploration.

FIG. 2 is an explanatory plan view of the traveling vehicle for lunar exploration shown in FIG. 1;

3 is an explanatory plan view of the traveling vehicle for lunar exploration shown in FIG. 1 when a solar cell panel is completely closed.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view showing an example of a conventional lunar surface exploration traveling vehicle.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Lunar surface exploration vehicle 2 ... Body 3 ... Solar cell panel 5, 5a ... Panel element 8 ... Radiator (heat dissipation surface) 9 ... Hinge 10 ... Panel opening / closing actuator 16 ... Solar cell panel rotation actuator

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. A heat radiation surface of an electronic device built in the vehicle body is formed on an upper surface of the vehicle body, and a solar cell panel is disposed so as to cover the heat radiation surface. A space exploration traveling vehicle, wherein a state of heat radiation between the heat radiation surface and the outer space is controlled by opening and closing the space. 2. A radiating surface having a circular shape formed on an upper surface of a vehicle body, and an umbrella-shaped solar cell panel including a plurality of panel elements is provided so as to cover the radiating surface. 2. The space exploration traveling vehicle according to claim 1, wherein the opening of some of the panel elements is positively variably controlled. 3. The traveling vehicle for space exploration according to claim 2, wherein the solar cell panel is rotatable about the axis of the vehicle body with respect to the vehicle body. 4. The vehicle body itself is formed as a circle or a regular polygon in plan view, and a large part of the upper surface of the vehicle body is a circular heat radiation surface. The traveling vehicle for space exploration according to claim 3, wherein the solar cell panel is arranged concentrically with the vehicle body.