JP2000272599A - Gravity center controller for aerospace vehicle - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To prolong the service life of an aerospace vehicle by further reducing its weight. SOLUTION: A gravity center position on a propelling force vector generated by a propelling machine 11 mounted on an aerospace vehicle main body 10 to give a propelling force to the aerospace vehicle main body 10 is calculated on the generation rate of the aerospace vehicle main body 10, and by driving and controlling a gravity center adjuster 13 variably adjustably mounted on the aerospace vehicle main body 10 based on this gravity center position information, a gravity center position on the propelling force vector generated by the propelling machine 11 is variably set.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a spacecraft equipped with a propulsion device including, for example, an artificial satellite and a space station, and more particularly to controlling a center of gravity on a thrust vector generated by the propulsion device. The present invention relates to a space navigation body weight control device to be used.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In general, in a spacecraft, a propulsion device using a propellant is mounted on the body of the spacecraft as a thrust generating source of the attitude control system, and the thrust generated by the propulsion device is used. Therefore, a method of controlling the attitude including the change of the trajectory is adopted. The propulsion unit that composes such an attitude control system mounts the center of gravity on the generated thrust vector corresponding to the center of gravity of the spacecraft body, and uses the generated thrust to change the orbit of the spacecraft body. Control is realized.

However, in the above spacecraft, when the propulsion device is driven to perform attitude control and the propellant is consumed, an imbalance due to propellant consumption occurs. Thus, the position of the center of gravity of the thrust vector generated by the propulsion device changes. For this reason, as the time elapses, the load on the attitude control system increases,
There is a problem that the amount of propellant used in the propulsion device increases.

[0004] According to this, when the life of the spacecraft is extended, the amount of the propellant to be loaded must be very large, and the weight of the spacecraft becomes very heavy.

[0005] In such circumstances, when a large spacecraft such as a space station developed in the field of recent space development is constructed, considering the life of the spacecraft, the propellant to be mounted becomes very large. It is one of the major issues.

[0006]

As described above, in the conventional spacecraft, the load on the attitude control system increases with the passage of time. And there is a problem that the weight becomes very heavy.

[0007] The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and can be simplified in configuration, promote the reduction of weight, and
It is an object of the present invention to provide a space navigation center of gravity control device capable of promoting extension of life.

[0008]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a propulsion device mounted on a spacecraft main body to apply thrust to the spacecraft main body, and a rate detecting means for detecting a generation rate of the spacecraft main body. A center-of-gravity position calculating means for calculating a center-of-gravity position on a thrust vector generated by the propulsion device based on the generated rate information detected by the rate detecting means; and a variably adjustable body mounted on the spacecraft body. A center-of-gravity adjusting mechanism for variably setting the center-of-gravity position of the spacecraft main body; and a drive control of the center-of-gravity adjusting mechanism based on the center-of-gravity position information calculated by the center-of-gravity position calculating means, whereby a thrust vector generated by the thruster is generated. And a control means for controlling the position of the upper center of gravity.

According to the above configuration, the propulsion unit of the spacecraft main body is configured such that the position of the center of gravity on the generated thrust vector is variably set via the center of gravity adjusting mechanism and is maintained in a desired state. Since the load on the attitude control system due to the change in the position of the center of gravity is almost eliminated, the amount of propellant used by the propulsion device can be reduced. Accordingly, it is possible to reduce the weight of the space navigation system by reducing the consumption propellant and to prolong the service life.

Also, the present invention provides a propulsion device mounted on a spacecraft main body for applying thrust to the spacecraft main body, a rate detecting means for detecting a generation rate of the spacecraft main body, and A transmitting / receiving unit provided in the navigation body, transmitting the generated rate information detected by the rate detecting unit to the base station, and receiving information from the base station; provided in the base station, via the transmitting / receiving unit Receiving the generated rate information of the spacecraft main body, calculating center of gravity position information on a thrust vector generated by the propulsion device based on the generated rate information, and transmitting the center of gravity position information to the transmitting / receiving means; A position control means, which is variably adjusted with respect to the spacecraft body, is driven and controlled based on the center of gravity position information received by the transmission / reception means, and has a thrust force generated by the thruster. To constitute a space vehicle weight center control unit and a center-of-gravity adjusting mechanism for controlling the position of the center of gravity of the torr.

According to the above configuration, the position of the center of gravity on the thrust vector generated by the propulsion unit is calculated by the base station based on the generation rate of the spacecraft main body, and is transmitted to the spacecraft main body. The center of gravity adjusting mechanism of the spacecraft body is driven and controlled based on the position information. As a result, the position of the center of gravity on the thrust vector generated by the propulsion device of the spacecraft body is variably set and maintained in a desired state.

Therefore, the load on the attitude control system due to the change in the position of the center of gravity of the propulsion device is almost eliminated, so that the amount of propellant used by the propulsion device can be reduced, and the consumption propellant of the spacecraft system can be reduced. It is possible to extend the service life as well as to reduce the weight by the reduction. Also, the center of gravity position information is
By calculating on the base station side, the arithmetic processing system on the spacecraft main body side can be reduced, and it is possible to contribute to diversification of the functions on the spacecraft main body side.

Further, the present invention is constructed such that the rate detecting means is also used as the attitude control sensor. According to this,
By sharing the components, a simple configuration is realized.

Further, in the present invention, the center-of-gravity adjusting mechanism 13 is configured to be also used as an antenna supporting mechanism or a manipulator. According to this, the components can be shared, thereby realizing a simple configuration.

[0015]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 shows a space navigation body weight controller according to an embodiment of the present invention.
The propulsion unit 11 that configures an attitude control system including a trajectory change corresponding to the position of the center of gravity is mounted on 0. An antenna device 12 is mounted on the spacecraft body 10 via a center-of-gravity adjusting mechanism 13.

The center-of-gravity adjusting mechanism 13 also serves as, for example, an antenna supporting mechanism, and is driven and controlled without changing the directional direction of the antenna device 12 as described later. Is set variably.

The spacecraft body 10 is provided with an attitude detection sensor 14. This posture detection sensor 14
As shown in FIG. 2, the attitude control unit 15 of the attitude control system is connected, and detects attitude angle information including the attitude angle and the generation rate (angular velocity) of the spacecraft main body 10, and outputs the attitude angle information. Output to the attitude control unit 15. This attitude control unit 15
Generates an attitude drive signal based on the input attitude angle information and command information from a command unit (not shown), drives and controls the propulsion device 11, and executes attitude control including changing the trajectory of the spacecraft body 10. I do.

Further, a center-of-gravity position calculating unit 16 is connected to the posture detecting sensor 14. This center-of-gravity position calculator 1
Reference numeral 6 denotes a thrust vector generated by the propulsion unit 11 based on the generation rate when the control unit 17 is connected to the output terminal thereof and the generation rate of the spacecraft main body 10 is input via the attitude detection sensor 14. The position of the center of gravity is calculated and the control unit 1
7 is output.

The output end of the control unit 17 is connected to the center-of-gravity adjusting mechanism 13, which calculates a shift amount of the center-of-gravity position based on the input center-of-gravity position information, generates a drive signal, and generates a drive signal based on the drive signal. The center of gravity adjustment mechanism 13 is drive-controlled to variably set the position of the center of gravity on the thrust vector generated by the propulsion device 11.

In the above configuration, as shown in FIG. 3, when the attitude control including the change of the trajectory of the spacecraft main body 10 is executed in step S10, in step S11, the center-of-gravity position calculation unit 16 sends the attitude detection sensor. The generation rate information is input from 14. Then, the center-of-gravity position calculation unit 16 calculates the center-of-gravity position on the thrust vector generated by the propulsion device 11 and outputs it to the control unit 17 (step S12).

Here, the control unit 17 calculates the amount of deviation of the center of gravity based on the input information of the center of gravity and generates a variable drive signal.
3 is driven to variably set the position of the center of gravity of the propulsion device 11 on the thrust vector (steps S13 and S14).

Thereafter, the flow returns to step S11, and the above-described process of variably setting the position of the center of gravity based on the rate of occurrence from the attitude detection sensor 14 is continued.

As described above, the space navigation body weight center control device is mounted on the spacecraft body 10 and determines the position of the center of gravity on the thrust vector generated by the propulsion device 11 that applies thrust to the spacecraft body 10. Calculating based on the generation rate of the spacecraft body 10, and controlling the drive of the center of gravity adjustment mechanism 13 of the spacecraft body 10 that is variably adjustable based on the center-of-gravity position information, The center of gravity on the generated thrust vector is variably set.

According to this, the propulsion unit 11 of the spacecraft main body 10 has a position of the center of gravity on the generated thrust vector.
Since the load is variably set via the center-of-gravity adjustment mechanism 13 and maintained in a desired state, the load on the attitude control system due to the change in the position of the center of gravity is almost eliminated. Can be reduced. As a result, it becomes possible to reduce the weight by reducing the consumption propellant of the space navigation system, and to prolong the service life.

In the above embodiment, the antenna device 12 is mounted on the spacecraft body 10 via the center-of-gravity adjusting mechanism 13, and the center-of-gravity adjusting mechanism 10 is driven so that the directivity of the antenna device 12 is not changed. However, the present invention is not limited to this. For example, an antenna support mechanism having a structure for supporting the antenna device 12 so as to be able to control the direction of the antenna device 12 is provided. It is also possible to use a manipulator of an articulated manipulator system for various operations in outer space. Further, as the center-of-gravity adjusting mechanism 13, for example, a dedicated one is used without using the antenna supporting mechanism of the antenna device 12 and other mechanical parts such as the manipulator as described above.
0 may be provided.

Further, in the above-described embodiment, the spacecraft side calculates the position of the center of gravity on the thrust vector generated by the propulsion device 11 based on the generation rate, and generates a drive signal for the center-of-gravity adjusting mechanism 13. Although the description has been given of the case of the configuration, the invention is not limited to this.
May be configured to transmit signal generation rate to a base station disposed on the ground or the like via the signal transmission / reception means while the attitude detection sensor 14 detects the generation rate. The base station that has received the generated rate information calculates the barycentric position on the thrust vector generated by the propulsion device 11 based on the received generated rate information, and generates a drive signal based on the barycentric position information. And
The drive signal is transmitted again to the spacecraft side, the drive signal information is received via the signal transmitting / receiving means, and the center of gravity adjusting mechanism 13 is driven and controlled based on the drive signal transmitted from the base station. The position of the center of gravity is variably set.

In the case of this embodiment, an effective effect can be expected particularly by applying the present invention to a large space vehicle such as a space station whose movement is very gentle.

That is, in the case where the gravity position is calculated by the base station, as shown in FIG. 4, when the attitude control including the change of the trajectory of the spacecraft main body 10 is first performed in step S20, the attitude detection is performed. The generation rate detected by the sensor 14 is transmitted to the base station via the signal transmitting / receiving means provided in the spacecraft main body 10. Then, the base station calculates the position of the center of gravity on the thrust vector generated by the propulsion device 11 based on the generated rate information, and generates a drive signal for the center of gravity adjusting mechanism 13 based on the information on the center of gravity (step S21). ),
The drive signal information is transmitted to the spacecraft body 10 (step S22).

Here, the spacecraft body 10 receives the drive signal information from the base station by its signal transmitting / receiving means, and based on the drive signal information, the center of gravity adjusting mechanism 13.
To variably set the position of the center of gravity on the thrust vector generated by the propulsion device 11 (step S23).

Thereafter, returning to step S21, the generation rate detected by the attitude detection sensor 14 is transmitted again to the base station via the signal transmission / reception means, and the thrust vector generated by the propulsion device 11 is similarly obtained. Is calculated, and the above-described process of variably setting the center of gravity is continued.

Further, in the above embodiment, the generation rate of the spacecraft main body 10 is controlled by the attitude detection sensor 1 of the attitude control system.
Although the description has been given of the case where the detection is performed in step 4, the present invention is not limited to this. For example, a dedicated generation rate detection means, for example, an inertial reference device is provided in the spacecraft body 10, and the generation rate is determined by the inertial reference device. It is also possible to configure to detect.

Therefore, it is needless to say that the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment, but can be variously modified without departing from the gist of the present invention.

[0034]

As described above in detail, according to the present invention, the space navigation body weight control can be simplified, the weight can be promoted, and the life can be prolonged. An apparatus can be provided.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is an arrangement configuration diagram shown to explain the concept of a space navigation center-of-gravity control apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing the configuration of FIG.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart illustrating the signal processing operation of FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a flowchart illustrating a signal processing operation according to another embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 10 ... Spacecraft body. 11 ... thruster. 12 ... Antenna device. 13 ... Center of gravity adjustment mechanism. 14 An attitude detection sensor. 15 ... attitude control unit. 16 ... center of gravity position calculation unit. 17 Control part.

Claims (6)

[Claims] 1. A propulsion device mounted on a spacecraft body and applying thrust to the spacecraft body, rate detection means for detecting a generation rate of the spacecraft body, and detection by the rate detection means Center-of-gravity position calculating means for calculating a center-of-gravity position on a thrust vector generated by the propulsion device based on the generated rate information, and variably adjustable with respect to the spacecraft body,
A center-of-gravity adjusting mechanism for variably setting the center-of-gravity position of the spacecraft main body; and a drive control of the center-of-gravity adjusting mechanism based on the center-of-gravity position information calculated by the center-of-gravity position calculating means, thereby controlling a thrust vector generated by the propulsion device. Control means for controlling the position of the center of gravity of the spacecraft. 2. A propulsion device mounted on the spacecraft body and applying thrust to the spacecraft body, rate detecting means for detecting a generation rate of the spacecraft body, and Transmitting / receiving means for transmitting the generated rate information detected by the rate detecting means to a base station, and receiving information from the base station; and the spacecraft provided in the base station via the transmitting / receiving means. Center-of-gravity position control means for receiving the generated rate information of the main body, calculating center-of-gravity position information on a thrust vector generated by the propulsion device based on the generated rate information, and transmitting the center-of-gravity position information to the transmitting / receiving means; , Is mounted variably adjustable with respect to the spacecraft body,
A center-of-gravity control device for driving a spacecraft, the center-of-gravity control device being controlled based on the center-of-gravity position information received by the transmission / reception means to control the position of the center of gravity on a thrust vector generated by the propulsion device. 3. The space navigation center-of-gravity control device according to claim 1, wherein said rate detection means also serves as an attitude detection sensor mounted on a spacecraft body. 4. The space navigation center-of-gravity control device according to claim 1, wherein the center-of-gravity adjusting mechanism is also used as an antenna supporting mechanism. 5. The space navigation center-of-gravity control device according to claim 1, wherein the center-of-gravity adjusting mechanism is also used as a manipulator. 6. The space navigation center-of-gravity control apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the propulsion device comprises an attitude control system.