JP3015394B2 - Antenna tracking device - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to an antenna tracking device mounted on a spacecraft or the like used for data relay between spacecrafts.

(Prior Art) In general, a spacecraft used for data relay is equipped with an RF sensor that receives a radio signal from another target spacecraft. The RF sensor has a certain positional relationship with the antenna of its own spacecraft, and the detection signal (directivity error signal) of the RF sensor is always used as tracking information to make its own antenna point at another spacecraft. .

 FIG. 2 shows a conventional antenna tracking device.

The driving unit 1 that drives the antenna outputs angle information of the antenna, takes into account the dynamics 2 that are the dynamic characteristics of the spacecraft, the antenna support, and the like, and determines the relative distance between the antenna and the other target spacecraft. The position is set.

The pointing error of the antenna of the own spacecraft with respect to another spacecraft is detected by the RF sensor 3.

The pointing error information detected by the RF sensor 3 is supplied to a closed loop tracking signal generation unit 4. Further, when the RF sensor 3 captures a radio signal from another spacecraft in the range of the field of view, the RF sensor 3 outputs a lock-on signal and transmits this to the ground station 8 as telemetry.

The closed loop tracking signal generator 4 generates a compensation signal for correcting an antenna error with respect to the pointing error information. The signal generated by the closed loop tracking signal generation unit 4 is
Is fed back to the drive unit 1 via. As a result, the antenna of the own spacecraft always tracks another target spacecraft (hereinafter, such a tracking state and a closed-loop tracking mode).

By the way, the switch unit 5 is configured to be able to perform switching control by a command from the ground station 8.

The switch unit 5 can supply the tracking signal from the closed loop tracking signal generation unit 4 to the driving unit 1 and selectively supply a control signal from the stop signal generation unit 6 or the open loop tracking signal generation unit 7. can do.

The control signal from the open-loop tracking signal generator 7 is used when the position of another target spacecraft is estimated in advance and tracking is performed. This tracking is performed at the time of the capturing stage before performing the above-described steady tracking (hereinafter, such a tracking state is referred to as an open-loop tracking mode).

The stop signal generator 6 sends out a control signal for stopping the tracking operation. When the control signal from the stop signal generator 6 is selected, the tracking operation is stopped (hereinafter, such a state is referred to as a stop mode).

As described above, the antenna tracking device has a closed loop tracking mode, an open loop tracking mode, and a stop mode. The reason why the open-loop tracking mode and the stop mode can be obtained is as follows.

For example, if another target spacecraft is an orbiting satellite, the data communication may be interrupted behind the earth. In such a case, the RF sensor 3 performs lock-off detection. Under such a lock-off situation, if the antenna tracking is still performed based on the detection signal from the RF sensor 3, the orientation of the antenna cannot be controlled normally. Therefore, in such a situation, it is better to stop the closed loop tracking mode or to perform tracking in the direction of the target predicted in advance.

For that purpose, the ground station uses the telemetry from the RF sensor 3 and the relative position information of the spacecraft to stop data communication, send a command to the switch unit 5, and switch to the stop mode or the open loop tracking mode. I have. Further, when the ground station 8 receives telemetry indicating lock-off from the RF sensor 3, it determines various telemetry from the spacecraft and performs selective control by a tracking mode command.

(Problems to be Solved by the Invention) As described above, according to the conventional system, the antenna tracking mode is selected based on the judgment of the ground station, and is performed by a command from the ground station. But with this method,
Since the transmission / reception time of the command / telemetry is required, the transition of the tracking mode is delayed. This delay causes a problem that data is lost in the data communication line, which adversely affects communication. Further, there is a problem that the ground station requires a great deal of labor because an immediate judgment is required.

Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide an antenna tracking device that can appropriately and smoothly automatically obtain a target antenna tracking mode when antenna tracking is locked off.

[Constitution of the Invention] (Means for Solving the Problems) According to the present invention, an RF sensor for detecting a radio wave from another space object arriving at an antenna, and the antenna based on a detection signal of the RF sensor are provided. A closed-loop tracking signal generation unit that generates a tracking signal that controls the direction of the antenna via a driving unit so as to always face the direction of arrival of the radio wave, and estimates the location of the other space object that is a target, An open-loop tracking signal generation unit that generates a tracking signal that controls the direction of the antenna via the driving unit so that the antenna faces the estimated location, and fixes the direction of the antenna to perform a tracking operation. A stop signal generating unit for generating a stop signal for stopping the motor, and a stop signal generating unit provided between the closed loop tracking signal generating unit and the driving unit, and selectively generating the stop signal for the driving unit. A stop signal from, or a switch unit that supplies a tracking signal from the open-loop tracking signal generation unit or the closed-loop tracking signal generation unit, and a detection signal from the RF sensor or a tracking signal from the closed-loop tracking signal generation unit. Determination, when the antenna is away from the predetermined tracking state, a target space body, a space body on which the own device is mounted, and an optimal tracking mode with reference to a relative positional relationship with the earth. Selected,
The switch unit is controlled in accordance with the selection result, so that either the tracking signal from the open-loop tracking signal generation unit or the stop signal from the stop signal generation unit is selectively supplied to the drive unit. And a lock-off determining unit.

(Operation) When the lock-off state occurs in the closed-loop tracking mode using the RF sensor by the above-described means, the relative positional relationship between the target space body, the space body on which the own device is mounted, and the earth is determined. The optimum tracking mode is selected and switched between the open-loop tracking mode and the stop mode based on the reference. For this reason, the judgment processing at the ground station as conventionally required becomes unnecessary, and the burden on the operator at the ground station can be reduced, and the adverse effect on the data communication can be minimized.

In addition, since the reference is made to the relative positional relationship between the target space object, the space object on which the device is mounted, and the earth, for example, lock-off even if the target is not in the shadow of the earth If RL is detected,
It is possible to take measures such as selecting a more appropriate tracking mode as a sensor abnormality. This also makes it possible to enhance the reliability of data communication.

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 shows an embodiment of the present invention. The drive unit 11 that drives the antenna outputs angle information of the antenna, takes into account the dynamics 12, which is the dynamic characteristics of the spacecraft and the antenna support, and compares the antenna with the other spacecraft that is the target. The position is set.

The pointing error of the antenna of the own spacecraft with respect to another spacecraft is detected by the RF sensor 13.

The pointing error information detected by the RF sensor 13 is supplied to a closed loop tracking signal generation unit 14. When the RF sensor 13 captures radio waves from another spacecraft in the range of the visual field, the RF sensor 13 outputs a lock-on signal, and outputs this signal to the lock-off determination unit.
Supply 18

The closed-loop tracking signal generation unit 14 generates a compensation signal for correcting an error of the antenna with respect to the pointing error information. The signal generated by the closed-loop tracking signal generator 14 is
The signal is returned to the drive unit 11 via the line 15. As a result, the antenna of the own spacecraft always tracks another target spacecraft (closed loop tracking mode).

By the way, the switch unit 15 is configured to be able to perform switching control by a control signal from the lock-off determining unit 18.

The switch unit 15 can supply the tracking signal from the closed loop tracking signal generation unit 14 to the driving unit 11 and selectively supply the control signal from the stop signal generation unit 16 or the open loop tracking signal generation unit 17 can do.

The control signal from the open-loop tracking signal generation unit 17 is used when the position of another target spacecraft is estimated in advance and tracking is performed. This tracking is performed at the time of the acquisition stage before tracking the above-mentioned stationary target spacecraft (open loop tracking mode).

The stop signal generator 16 sends out a control signal for stopping the tracking operation. When the control signal from the stop signal generator 16 is selected, the tracking operation is stopped (stop mode).

Here, for example, when another target spacecraft is an orbiting satellite, the data communication may be interrupted by hiding behind the earth. In such a case, the RF sensor 13 performs lock-off detection. Since the output of the RF sensor 13 is also supplied to the lock-off determination unit 18, the lock-off state is detected by the lock-off determination unit 18. Then, the lock-off determining unit 18 sends a control signal to the switch unit 15, and switches to the stop mode or the open-loop tracking mode.

In addition, the time of hiding behind the earth can be calculated by the size and cycle of the space object on which the antenna is mounted, the target space object and the earth, but if it is determined that the lock-off is at a time other than the time of hiding the earth. Since there are various cases such as a case where the RF sensor has an abnormality, the system temporarily shifts to open-loop tracking and stops tracking with an incorrect signal.

By providing the lock-off determination unit 18 as described above, the tracking mode is automatically and immediately switched at the time of lock-off, so that adverse effects on data communication can be minimized. Further, since it is not necessary to determine the lock-off state in the ground station as in the related art, the burden on the operator is greatly reduced.

In the above description, the lock-off determining unit 18 uses the output of the RF sensor 13 as the information for determining the lock-off. However, the present invention is not limited to this.
14 outputs may be used.

[Effects of the Invention] As described above, according to the present invention, when the antenna tracking is locked off, the tracking mode of the target antenna can be automatically and appropriately obtained automatically, and the data communication failure can be reduced. The burden on the operator can be reduced.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is an explanatory diagram showing the configuration of an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a conventional antenna tracking device. 11… Drive unit, 12… Dynamics, 13… RF sensor,
14: Closed-loop tracking signal generator, 15: Switch, 16
…… Stop signal generator, 17 …… Open loop tracking signal generator,
18 Lock-off determination unit.

Continued on the front page (72) Inventor Keiichi Hirako 1 Kosuka Toshiba-cho, Saiwai-ku, Kawasaki-shi, Kanagawa Prefecture Inside the Komukai Plant, Toshiba Corporation (56) References Fully open Sho 61-162153 (JP, U) -6368 (JP, U) (58) Field surveyed (Int. Cl. ⁷ , DB name) H01Q 3/02

Claims (1)

(57) [Claims] An RF sensor for detecting a radio wave from another space object arriving at an antenna, and a drive unit based on a detection signal of the RF sensor, so that the antenna always faces the direction of arrival of the radio wave. A closed-loop tracking signal generation unit that generates a tracking signal that controls the direction of the antenna via
So that the antenna faces this estimated location,
An open-loop tracking signal generation unit that generates a tracking signal for controlling the direction of the antenna via the driving unit; and a stop signal generation unit that fixes a direction of the antenna and generates a stop signal for stopping the tracking operation. And a stop signal provided from the stop signal generator, or the open-loop tracking signal generator or the closed loop, provided between the closed-loop tracking signal generator and the driver, for the driver. A switch unit that supplies a tracking signal from a tracking signal generation unit, a detection signal from the RF sensor or a tracking signal from the closed loop tracking signal generation unit is determined, and when the antenna is separated from a predetermined tracking state, , Select the optimal tracking mode by referring to the relative position of the target spacecraft, the spacecraft on which the device is mounted, and the earth, and Lock-off controlling the switch unit so that either a tracking signal from the open-loop tracking signal generation unit or a stop signal from the stop signal generation unit is selectively supplied to the drive unit. An antenna tracking device comprising: a determination unit.