JP3105829B2 - Optical sensor for navigation - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a navigation optical sensor, and more particularly, to a navigation optical sensor having several kinds of optical sensor functions.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Recent developments in space exploration have been remarkable, and satellites and exploration vehicles (hereinafter, collectively referred to as spacecrafts) which are premised on leaving the earth and landing on other celestial bodies have been put to practical use.
In this case, to land the spacecraft on the target celestial body,
Each stage requires several types of optical sensors depending on the purpose.

For example, during cruising from a transfer orbit near the earth to a target celestial body, it is necessary to control the attitude of the spacecraft based on the position information of the star measured by the star tracker. Next, when landing on the target celestial body, it is necessary to select the terrain suitable for landing from the image information of the celestial body surface measured by the landing sensor, and after landing, obtain the panoramic image information captured by the panoramic camera It is required to fulfill the mission given to the spacecraft.

As described above, three types of sensors, ie, a star tracker, a landing sensor, and a panorama sensor are required for each stage until the spacecraft travels in space to the target celestial body and lands on the surface of the celestial body. You.

On the other hand, the launch of a spacecraft by a rocket has a limitation on the weight of on-board equipment due to the launch capability of the rocket, and this weight constraint greatly affects the system design of the spacecraft. Spacecrafts are equipped with various devices required to accomplish missions, but devices with independent structures must meet severe vibration tests and thermal vacuum tests to withstand launch environments and space environments. Therefore, an equipment structure that satisfies the required specifications in strength design and thermal design is required. Therefore, the equipment becomes heavier and the weight of the spacecraft system increases. Since the increase in weight conflicts with the launch capability of the rocket, it is always necessary to reduce the system weight of the spacecraft, and this requirement requires that the weight of each device mounted on the spacecraft be reduced. .

A conventional spacecraft has three types of optical sensors mounted thereon as devices having independent structures. Optical sensors are similar in basic structure, but there are no sensors with various functions because they are independent as optimal functions for each purpose. To meet mission requirements, three types of optical sensors are used as described above. As a result, the weight of the entire spacecraft increases.

[0007]

The above-described conventional navigation optical sensor has a disadvantage that the weight of the spacecraft system is increased because each sensor required for performing a mission is a device having an independent structure. I have.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a navigation optical sensor that integrates various optical sensor functions necessary for performing a mission and reduces the weight of a spacecraft system.

[0009]

Means for Solving the Problems A navigation optical sensor according to the present invention comprises: a first sensor for detecting the attitude of a spacecraft by observing a stellar position; and the spacecraft acquires an image of a celestial body surface when the astronaut lands. A second sensor, wherein the spacecraft acquires a panoramic image after the celestial body landing.
A rotating mirror mechanism for selecting an optical image acquired by each of the first sensor, the second sensor, and the third sensor based on a position of a rotating mirror; and charge coupling for detecting the optical image Device and this charge
Brightness, field of view, and resolution of the image obtained by the coupling device
And an optical processing means having a correction processing unit for performing the change .

A star sensor for detecting the attitude of the spacecraft by observing a star position; a landing sensor for acquiring an image of the surface of the celestial body when the spacecraft lands; a spacecraft acquiring a panoramic image after the celestial body lands. A panoramic sensor; a rotating mirror unit for setting a direction of a rotating mirror at any position of the optical images from the star sensor, the landing sensor, and the panoramic sensor; and condensing the optical image reflected by the rotating mirror. A lens system for forming an image; and an optical processing means having a charge-coupled device for detecting the optical image and a correction processing unit for changing the brightness, the field of view, and the resolution of an image obtained by the charge-coupled device. It is characterized by.

The correction processing section has a function of storing the map data of the star and the topographical data of the surface of the celestial body, and comparing and comparing the map data with the image data acquired by the star sensor and the landing sensor. .

[0012]

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

FIG. 1 is an external view showing an embodiment of a navigation optical sensor according to the present invention.

The embodiment shown in FIG. 1 has an optical sensor 1 for detecting and correcting an optical image, a lens system 9 for condensing the optical image, and a rotating mirror unit 10 for rotating the optical image.
And a baffle 8 for observing stars, a landing surface imaging unit 6 for imaging the landing surface, and a panorama imaging unit 7 for performing panoramic imaging of the target object.

The optical sensor 1 has a two-dimensional C for detecting an optical image.
It has a CD 4 and a correction device 3 for correcting an optical image with a filter or the like. The rotating mirror unit 10 has a rotating mirror 2 that can rotate 360 degrees and a rotating mechanism (not shown).

FIG. 2 is a longitudinal sectional view showing the configuration of FIG.

FIG. 3 is a side view showing the configuration of FIG.

In FIGS. 2 and 3, components corresponding to those shown in FIG. 1 are denoted by the same reference numerals or symbols, and description thereof is omitted.

Next, the operation of the present embodiment will be described in more detail with reference to FIGS. 1, 2 and 3.

During the flight of the spacecraft from the earth to the target celestial body, the rotating mirror 2 of the rotating mirror unit 10 is rotated by the rotating mechanism to the position of the star observation direction 5 by the baffle 8 to provide a sensor as a star tracker. The function is performed. Here, the star tracker is a device that receives an optical image from a bright star such as a canopus through a baffle 8 in order to detect the attitude of a spacecraft in flight through a baffle 8. An image is formed on the CCD 4, the position of the combined image is compared with a star map in which star coordinate data is stored in advance, and the attitude of the spacecraft is detected. The correction device 3 performs such comparison and collation, as well as adjusting the brightness of the image, changing the field of view, changing the resolution, and performing distortion correction. The spacecraft can secure an appropriate attitude from the position information of the star by the function of the star tracker.

When the spacecraft approaches the target celestial body and lands on the surface of the celestial body from the orbit of the target celestial body, the rotating mirror 2
Is rotated by the rotation mechanism to a position in the landing surface direction 12 of the landing surface imaging unit 6 to perform a sensor function as a landing sensor. The image of the landing surface is received through the landing surface imaging unit 6, and the image of the landing surface is reflected by the rotating mirror 2 and forms an image on the two-dimensional CCD 4 through the lens system 9. From the image information on the ground surface based on the combined image, a flat place suitable for landing can be identified by comparing and comparing it with a ground surface map in which data on the celestial ground surface is stored in advance. The correction device 3 performs such comparison and collation, as well as adjusting the brightness of the image, changing the field of view, changing the resolution, and performing distortion correction. In addition,
The image information of the ground surface may be immediately transmitted to the base station on the earth without being compared with the ground surface map, and the base station may determine the image information.

Next, at the mission operation stage after landing, the rotating mirror 2 is moved to the panorama direction 1 of the panorama image section 7.
The sensor function as a panorama sensor is performed by rotating to a position 1 by a rotation mechanism. The panoramic image is received through a panoramic image section 7, and the panoramic image is reflected by the rotating mirror 2 and passed through a lens system 9 to a two-dimensional CCD.
4 is imaged. From the panoramic image information obtained by the image formation, visual information such as a mission execution state and an experiment result is obtained.

In each use phase of the above-mentioned navigation optical sensor, the correction device 3 adjusts the brightness of the object to be imaged, changes the field of view of the image pickup, changes the resolution, and the like. Since the signal is transmitted to a ground station or a base station in orbit around the earth, the signal is transmitted to a transmitting unit (not shown) mounted on the spacecraft.

[0024]

As described above, the navigation optical sensor of the present invention integrates various sensor functions necessary for performing a mission, so that a small and lightweight navigation optical sensor can be obtained. ing.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is an external view showing an embodiment of a navigation optical sensor according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a longitudinal sectional view showing the configuration of FIG.

FIG. 3 is a side view showing the configuration of FIG. 1;

[Explanation of symbols]

 Reference Signs List 1 optical sensor 2 rotating mirror 3 correction device 4 two-dimensional CCD 5 stellar observation direction 6 landing surface imaging unit 7 panoramic imaging unit 8 baffle 9 lens system 10 rotating mirror unit 11 panoramic direction 12 landing surface direction

──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continuation of the front page (56) References JP-A-4-237038 (JP, A) JP-A-57-132494 (JP, A) (58) Fields investigated (Int. Cl. ⁷ , DB name) G06T 1/00 G01B 21/00 G03B 37/00 H04N 5/335

Claims (3)

(57) [Claims] A first sensor for detecting an attitude of the spacecraft by observing a stellar position; a second sensor for acquiring an image of the surface of the celestial body when the spacecraft lands on the astronomical object; 3rd acquisition of panoramic image later
A rotating mirror mechanism for selecting an optical image acquired by each of the first sensor, the second sensor, and the third sensor based on a position of a rotating mirror; and charge coupling for detecting the optical image Device and this charge
Brightness, field of view, and resolution of the image obtained by the coupling device
An optical processing means having a correction processing unit for changing the value . 2. A star sensor for detecting an attitude of the spacecraft by observing a star position; a landing sensor for acquiring an image of the surface of the celestial body when the spacecraft lands; and a panoramic image obtained by the spacecraft after the celestial body lands. A panoramic sensor to be acquired; a rotating mirror unit for setting a direction of the rotating mirror at any position of the optical images from the star sensor, the landing sensor, and the panoramic sensor; and an optical image reflected by the rotating mirror. A lens system for illuminating and forming an image; and an optical processing means having a charge-coupled device for detecting the optical image and a correction processing unit for changing the brightness, the visual field range, and the resolution of an image obtained by the charge-coupled device. An optical sensor for navigation. 3. The correction processing unit has a function of storing map data of the star and topographical data of the surface of the celestial body, and comparing and comparing the map data with image data acquired by the star sensor and the landing sensor. The optical sensor for navigation according to claim 2, wherein