JPH08188200A - Attachment detachment detecting device of equipment loaded for space use - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: To provide an attachment-detachment detecting device of equipment loaded for space use with which a highly precise detection over a long period can be surely realized. CONSTITUTION: A joint driving part 7 has a U-shaped optical fiber 10 having a light input part 10a and a light output part 10b, a light emitting element and a light receiving element are arranged on a shoulder roll joint 2a in opposition to the light input part 10a of the U-shaped optical fiber 10, so that a light is emitted by the light emitting element and guided to the light input part 10a of the U-shaped optical fiber 10, and the light outputted from the light output part 10b of the optical fiber is received by the light receiving element. Thus, the attachment and detachment of the joint driving part to the mounting surface of the shoulder roll joint 2a can be judged.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to space attachment / detachment detection used for detecting the attachment / detachment of space equipment mounted on a spacecraft such as a space station constructed in outer space. Regarding the device.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In the field of space development, there is a concept of constructing a structure such as a space station in outer space. When constructing a structure such as this space station in outer space, it is considered to be performed using a manipulator system because its working environment is different from that on the ground and has an extreme environment. As such a manipulator system, for example, as shown in FIG. 3, shoulder rolls and pitch joints 2a and 2b are stacked on a base 1, and the shoulder rolls and pitch joints 2a and 2b are provided with elbow pitches. The joint 3 is connected via the arm 4. A wrist pitch joint 5a, a wrist yaw joint 5b and a wrist roll joint 5c are connected to the elbow pitch joint 3 via an arm 4, and the wrist pitch joint 5a, the wrist yaw joint 5b and the wrist roll joint 5 are connected.
An end effector 6 to which a work tool (not shown) is attached is connected to c. The shoulder roll joint 2a, shoulder pitch joint 2b, elbow pitch joint 3, wrist pitch joint 5a, wrist yaw joint 5b, wrist roll joint 5c, and end effector 6 are joint mechanisms formed of servo motors and the like, respectively. , A joint drive unit 7 (see FIG. 4) called joint electronics for controlling the operation of the joint mechanism.

The joint drive section 7 accommodates internal equipment such as an electronic circuit and a central processing unit (CPU) in a housing, and is replaceable by an ORU (Orbital Replaced Un).
it) Equipmentized, shoulder roll joint 2a (shoulder pitch joint 2
b, elbow pitch joint 3, wrist pitch joint 5a, wrist yaw joint 5b, wrist roll joint 5c, and end effector 6).
As shown in FIG. 4, each of them is detachably installed by using a mounting bolt 8 called a captain bolt. Further, the joint drive unit 7 is provided with a connection connector 7a,
A connector mechanism (not shown) is detachably connected to the connector 7a. The arm control unit 9 is connected to the connector mechanism (not shown) via a connection harness (not shown), and the arm control unit 9 and the joint drive unit 7 are electrically connected.

By the way, such a manipulator system is required to have a service life of about 30 years because its use environment is a special environment of outer space. Therefore, in such a manipulator system, for example, when the joint drive unit 7 fails, a so-called EVA (extravehicular activity) operation in which a person goes out of the spacecraft to perform work is performed on the connection harness (not shown). A method is adopted in which a connector mechanism (not shown) is detached from the connection connector, the joint drive unit 7 is removed, and the joint drive unit 7 is replaced with a new joint drive unit 7 prepared in advance.

However, in the above EVA work, the work environment is a work in an extreme environment of outer space, the work environment is very bad, and the work is very troublesome. Have the problem of being.

Therefore, in the manipulator system, it is one of the important subjects for future space development to configure each part so that the joint drive part 7 can be easily attached and detached by the EVA work and surely realized. Has become.

Specifically, there is development of an attachment / detachment detection device for detecting the attachment / detachment state of the joint drive section 7. This attachment / detachment detection device is not limited to one that can simply detect attachment / detachment, and is required to be configured to be able to reliably detect the presence / absence of attachment / detachment during replacement of the joint drive unit 7 for a long period of time. .

The situation is not limited to the joint drive section 7 in the manipulator system, but is related to the detection of attachment / detachment of various ORU-equipped space-installed equipment which is exchangeably mounted outside the exposure table of a spacecraft. Is also the same.

[0009]

As described above, in the field of space development, there is a strong demand for the development of an attachment / detachment detection device capable of reliably detecting the attachment / detachment state of space-mounted equipment over a long period of time. . The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and an object thereof is to provide an attachment / detachment detection device for space-installed equipment, which has a simple structure and is capable of reliably realizing high-precision detection over a long period of time. And

[0010]

According to the present invention, there is provided a space mounting device detachably mounted on a mounting body, and a light input portion and a light output portion provided on the mounting body and the space mounting device. An optical fiber, a light emitting unit that emits light to the optical input unit, and light emitted from the light emitting unit that is input from the optical input unit, passes through the optical fiber, and is output from the optical output unit. And an attachment / detachment determination means for determining attachment / detachment of the space-mounted device to / from the mounting body according to the detected light.

[0011]

According to the above construction, the attachment / detachment judging means receives the light emitted from the light emitting means into the optical input section of the optical fiber,
By being guided from the optical output section of the optical fiber, the attachment / detachment of the spaceborne device to / from the mounting body is determined according to the light detection.

[0012]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 shows an essential part of a device for detecting attachment / detachment of equipment for space installation according to an embodiment of the present invention. However, here, the same portions as those in FIG. 4 are designated by the same reference numerals, and detailed description thereof will be omitted.

That is, the U-shaped optical fiber 10 is embedded in the mounting surface of the joint drive section 7 of a space-mounted device, for example, a manipulator system. This U-shaped optical fiber 10
Is provided with the optical input section 10a at one end, and at the other end,
The light output portions 10b are provided so as to correspond to the attachment bodies, for example, the attachment surfaces of the shoulder roll joints 2a. Then, as shown in FIG. 2, the shoulder roll joint 2a is provided with light-emitting and light-receiving optical fibers 11 and 12, one end of which is a U-shaped optical fiber 1.
It is buried so as to face the light input unit 10a and the light output unit 10b of 0.

A light emitting element 13 such as a light emitting diode is arranged at the base end of the light emitting optical fiber 11 so as to oppose thereto, and an oscillation circuit 14 is connected to the light emitting element 13. On the other hand, a light receiving element 15 such as a photodiode is arranged to face the light receiving optical fiber 12. This light receiving element 15
The photodetector 16 is connected to the output end of the.

In the above structure, the joint drive section 7 is attached to a predetermined position on the shoulder roll joint 2a via the attachment bolt 8. When detecting attachment / detachment of the joint drive unit 7, a control unit (not shown) drives the oscillation circuit 14 to cause the light emitting element 13 to emit light. Then, this light is guided to the light input portion 10a of the U-shaped optical fiber 10 through the light emitting optical fiber 11 and then to the light receiving optical fiber 12 through the light output portion 10b of the U-shaped optical fiber 10. The light is guided and incident on the light receiving element 15. The light receiving element 15 outputs an output according to the received light to the photodetector 16. Light detector 1
Reference numeral 6 determines, based on the output of the light receiving element 15, whether or not the joint drive unit 7 is attached to or detached from the shoulder roll joint 2a.

That is, when the joint driving unit 7 is mounted at a predetermined position on the mounting surface of the shoulder roll joint 2a, the optical input unit 10a and the optical output unit 10b of the U-shaped optical fiber 10 are light emitting optical fibers. 11 and the optical fiber 12 for light reception. Then, when light is emitted from the light emitting element 13,
The light passes through the light emitting optical fiber 11 and the U-shaped optical fiber 1
0, the light output portion 10b of the U-shaped optical fiber 10 leads to the light receiving optical fiber 12, and the light receiving element 15 guides the light. Then, the light receiving element 15 outputs an output according to the received light to the photodetector 16. The light detection unit 16 determines from the output of the light receiving element 15 that the joint drive unit 7 is attached to a predetermined position on the attachment surface of the shoulder roll joint 2a.

If the joint drive unit 7 is not mounted at a predetermined position on the mounting surface of the shoulder roll joint 2a, U
Input section 10a and optical output section 10b of the shaped optical fiber 10
Are spaced apart without facing the light emitting optical fiber 11 and the light receiving optical fiber 12. Therefore, when light is emitted from the light emitting element 13, the light is guided to the light emitting optical fiber 11, but is not guided to the U-shaped optical fiber 10 of the joint driving unit 7. As a result, the light from the U-shaped optical fiber 10 is not guided to the light receiving element 15, and the output to the light detection unit 16 is turned off. Here, the light detection unit 16 determines that the joint drive unit 7 is not attached at a predetermined position on the attachment surface of the shoulder roll joint 2a.

As described above, in the attachment / detachment detection device for the space-borne device, the joint driving unit 7 has the optical input unit 10a and the optical output unit 1 installed therein.
The U-shaped optical fiber 10 having 0b is provided, and the light-emitting element 13 and the light-receiving element 15 are arranged in the shaped roll joint 2a so as to face the light input portion 10a of the U-shaped optical fiber 10. The light input section 1 of the U-shaped optical fiber 10 that emits light
0a, and the light output from the light output unit 10b of the optical fiber 10 is received by the light receiving element 15 to determine whether the joint drive unit 2 is attached to or detached from the mounting surface of the shoulder roll joint 2a. Configured to.

According to this, since the conduction of light is detected to determine whether or not the joint drive unit 7 is attached to or detached from the shoulder roll joint 2a, it is not necessary to adopt a mechanical switch structure having poor reliability. Thus, reliable and stable detection can be realized for a long period of time.

Further, according to this, the optical fibers 10, 1
By detecting the conduction of light using 1 and 12,
By conducting modulated light, highly accurate detection can be realized without being affected by external sunlight, and electric elements such as electric circuits can be placed away from the detection end. As a result, the influence of noise or the like can be effectively prevented, and also from this point, highly accurate attachment / detachment detection can be realized.

In the above embodiment, the case where the U-shaped optical fiber 10 and the optical fibers 11 and 12 are embedded in the joint drive section and joint has been described. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and it is not embedded. It can also be configured to be provided. The U-shaped optical fiber 10 is not limited to the U-shape and can be formed into various shapes.

Further, in the above-mentioned embodiment, the case where it is applied to the joint drive section 7 of the manipulator system as a space-mounted device has been described, but the present invention is not limited to this, and the 0RU installed on the exposure table of a spacecraft or the like. The present invention can be applied to detection of attachment / detachment of various types of equipment for space installation called equipment.
Therefore, it is needless to say that the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment, and that various modifications can be made without departing from the scope of the present invention.

[0023]

As described in detail above, according to the present invention, there is provided a device for detecting attachment / detachment of space-borne equipment, which has a simple structure and can surely realize highly accurate detection over a long period of time. can do.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a view showing a main part of a device for detecting attachment / detachment of space-mounted equipment according to an embodiment of the present invention.

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

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a space manipulator system to which the present invention is applied.

FIG. 4 is a diagram shown for explaining a conventional problem.

[Explanation of symbols]

 2a ... Shoulder roll joint. 7 ... Joint drive. 7a ... Connection connector. 8 ... Mounting bolt. 10 ... U type optical fiber. 10a ... Optical input section. 10b ... Optical output section. 11, 12 ... Optical fiber. 13 ... Light emitting element. 14 ... Oscillation circuit. 15 ... Light receiving element. 16 ... Photodetector.

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. An apparatus for space installation, which is detachably attached to an attachment body, an optical fiber which is provided in the attachment body and the equipment for space installation, and which has an optical input section and an optical output section, and the optical input. A light emitting unit that emits light to the unit, is input from the light input unit, passes through the optical fiber,
An on-board vehicle equipped with an attachment / detachment determination means for detecting the light emitted from the light emitting means, which is output from the light output section, and determining whether the space-borne device is attached to or detached from the mounting body in accordance with the detected light. Device attachment / detachment detection device. 2. The optical fiber is embedded in a mounting surface of a space-mounted device, and a light input section and a light output section are arranged to face a light emitting means and an attachment / detachment judging means of a mounting body, respectively. The attachment / detachment detection device for a space-mounted device according to claim 1. 3. The attachment / detachment detection device for a space-mounted device according to claim 1, wherein the light emitting means emits modulated light. 4. The attachment / detachment detection device for a space-mounted device according to claim 1, wherein the space-mounted device is exposed to outer space.