JPH10281780A - Moon and planet travel vehicle position measuring system - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To calculate a position by specifying an orbital trajectory element based on the position information of an orbital space flight, calculating the distance between the orbital space flight and a moon/planet travel vehicle, and transmitting the orbital trajectory element to the moon/planet travel vehicle via the orbital space flight. SOLUTION: When a lunar surface travel vehicle drives on a lunar surface, it calculates a distance by a distance detection part 29 based on position information from an orbital satellite for each travel position and outputs it to a lunar surface position calculation part 28. The calculation part 28 calculates the lunar surface position of the lunar surface travel vehicle for the orbital satellite based on the distance information, an orbital trajectory element, and a previous position and outputs it to a current position detection part 27. At the same time, a wheel rotation angle detection part 20 detects the rotary angle of a wheel and outputs it to a slide correction part 23, calculates a travel distance increment ΔS based on the rotary angle information, and outputs it to a path calculation part 24. The calculation part 24 calculates a three-dimensional path history S based on ΔS, pitch roll posture angle information, and yaw posture angle information and calculates a position on a lunar surface by the calculation part 27 based on S and a lunar surface position for the orbital trajectory of a vehicle.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a lunar / planetary traveling vehicle which is used, for example, for freely traveling on a lunar or a planet to perform lunar / planetary exploration or exploration, and in particular, to detect its traveling position. The present invention relates to a system for measuring the position of a lunar / planetary vehicle used in the field

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, in the field of space development,
Launch a lunar explorer and send it to the moon,
Research on the moon is being carried out by lowering the lunar traveling vehicle mounted on this lunar explorer onto the lunar surface, and traveling on the lunar surface with the lunar traveling vehicle to collect lunar soil and the like. Such a lunar traveling vehicle is remotely operated, and the traveling position on the lunar surface is determined based on the azimuth information of the antenna gimbal tracked based on the tracking receiver information and the terrain information acquired by the surveillance camera. A method of estimating by analyzing based on a prepared topographical map of the moon is adopted.

However, in the above method of estimating the position of a lunar traveling vehicle, when the lunar traveling vehicle travels behind the moon, it is difficult to obtain the azimuth information thereof, so that accurate analysis is difficult. There is a problem that.

According to this, it is difficult to estimate a traveling position with high accuracy unless an accurate topographic map of the moon is prepared in advance, and it is difficult to estimate an accurate feature from the topographic map. And there is a problem that reliability is poor. Such a problem has become a serious issue particularly when conducting various lunar / planetary explorations including the ongoing moon in the field of space development in the future.

[0005]

As described above, the conventional method of estimating the position of a vehicle traveling on a lunar surface has a problem that there is a problem that the use mode is restricted and the reliability is poor. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and has a simple configuration and is capable of accurately measuring the traveling position of a lunar / planetary traveling vehicle to realize high-precision measurement. The purpose is to provide.

[0006]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention provides an orbiting spacecraft for navigating the orbit of the moon / planet and transmitting position information and orbital elements, and a position specified on the moon / planet. A moon / planet that is deployed and receives position information from the orbiting spacecraft, identifies the orbit of the orbiting spacecraft based on its time history, and transmits the orbital elements to the orbiting spacecraft as orbital elements. A base station, a moon / planetary vehicle that travels on the moon / planet, receives position information and orbital elements from the orbiting spacecraft, and detects the rotation angle of the wheels of the moon / planetary vehicle. Distance calculating means for executing slip correction and calculating the distance increment of the lunar / planetary traveling vehicle, and first and second orthogonal axes substantially parallel to the lunar / planetary plane of the lunar / planetary traveling vehicle. Tilt angle detecting means for detecting an attitude angle; A sun sensor that detects the directional angle of the sun with respect to the traveling vehicle, a moon / planetary orbital element, time data, and an azimuth angle in the sun direction calculated based on the previous position of the moon / planetary traveling vehicle are detected by the sun sensor. Attitude angle calculation means for calculating a third axis attitude angle substantially orthogonal to the first and second axes based on the direction of the sun, a travel distance increment calculated by the travel distance calculation means, and the tilt angle detection History that calculates a three-dimensional route history of the lunar / planetary traveling vehicle based on the first and second around-axis attitude angles detected by the means and the third around-axis attitude angle calculated by the attitude angle calculating means. Calculating means for calculating the distance between the lunar / planetary traveling vehicle and the orbiting spacecraft, the orbital element from the orbiting spacecraft and the previous position of the lunar / planetary traveling vehicle, Moon and planetary vehicles Position detecting means for detecting a position on the moon / planet surface with respect to the orbit of the orbiting spacecraft, and a three-dimensional path history calculated by the path history calculating means based on the moon / planet position detected by the position detecting means And a current position calculating means for calculating the current position by calibration.

[0007] According to the above configuration, the orbital element is specified based on the position information of the orbiting spacecraft using the position of the orbiting spacecraft as the reference position information, and the orbiting spacecraft and the lunar / spacecraft are identified.
By calculating the distance between the vehicle and the planetary vehicle, and transmitting the orbital element to the moon / planetary vehicle via the orbiting spacecraft, the orbital element and the distance information and the previous The position on the moon / planetary plane with respect to the orbit of the lunar / planetary traveling vehicle is calculated based on the position.

Further, the inclination angle detecting means detects first and second attitude angles around the moon / planetary traveling vehicle, and converts the directional angle of the sun detected by the sun sensor into the moon / planetary orbital element and time data. A third attitude angle around the axis is detected based on the first
To the third angle around the axis and the travel distance increment
Find the three-dimensional path history of a planetary vehicle. And the month
The current position of the planetary vehicle is calculated based on the three-dimensional path history of the lunar / planetary armored vehicle and the lunar / planet position of the orbiting spacecraft.

Therefore, the traveling position controlled by the lunar / planetary traveling vehicle is not merely estimated, but is measured based on a three-dimensional path history, and is calibrated for each orbit of the orbiting spacecraft, thereby providing a orbiting spacecraft. It is possible to detect the current position by the amount of the error that occurs during one orbit of, and highly accurate measurement can be achieved over the entire moon and planets.

Further, the present invention calculates the distance between the lunar / planetary traveling vehicle and the orbiting spacecraft in at least three times in which the orbiting spacecraft can be seen in one orbit of the orbiting spacecraft. The position of the moon / planet of the vehicle traveling on the moon / planet is calculated based on the latest distance information. According to the above configuration, since the generated error is only the error in one orbit of the orbiting spacecraft, highly reliable and accurate position measurement can be performed.

[0011]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 shows a configuration of a lunar / planetary traveling vehicle position measuring system according to an embodiment of the present invention. A lunar lander 10 travels in outer space to land on a lunar / planet, for example, a lunar surface. I do. The lunar landing vehicle 10 includes a lunar traveling vehicle 11 that freely travels on the lunar surface.
After landing on the lunar surface, the lunar traveling vehicle 11 is lowered so that it can travel on the lunar surface, and the lunar traveling vehicle 11 can be remotely operated from the lunar landing machine 10, for example.

A orbiting satellite for position measurement 12 is provided in the lunar orbit. This orbiting satellite 12 has location information,
For example, a GPS signal including known distance data and time data is transmitted to the lunar lander 10 and the lunar traveling vehicle 11.

The lunar lander 10 has a transceiver (not shown) mounted thereon, which receives position information from the orbiting satellite 12 and first specifies a reference position at which it has landed based on a previously prepared lunar topographic map. The orbital element of the orbiting satellite 12 is detected based on the time history of the position information from the orbiting satellite 12 with reference to the reference position, and is output to the orbiting satellite 12.

The lunar traveling vehicle 10 has a wheel rotation angle detection sensor 20 and a sun sensor 21 as shown in FIG.
And an inclinometer 22. The slip correction unit 23 is connected to the wheel rotation angle detection sensor 10.

The slip correcting section 23 has a lunar surface (sand)
As the lunar traveling vehicle 11 travels on the lunar surface, the travel distance increment ΔS (rad) based on the slip between the wheels and the lunar surface is calculated. A route calculation unit 24 is connected to the slip correction unit 23. When the rotation angle of the wheel of the lunar traveling vehicle 11 detected by the wheel rotation angle detection sensor 20 is input, the radius of the wheel is set to r, Δ rotation angle increment
Θ (rad), assuming that the slip ratio between the wheel and the lunar surface is α, the increase in travel distance due to the slip generated between the wheel and the lunar surface due to the running of the wheel is ΔS, based on the following equation: ΔS = α × ΔΘ × 2πr And outputs it to the route calculation unit 24. However, if there is no slippage of the wheels due to the traveling of the lunar traveling vehicle 11, it is calculated based on the formula of ΔS = ΔΘ × 2π.

The inclinometer 22 is connected to the lunar traveling vehicle 1.
A pitch and a roll attitude angle around two orthogonal axes 1 are detected and output to the path calculation unit 24. Further, one input terminal of an adder 25 is connected to the sun sensor 21, and detects the direction angle of the sun with respect to the lunar traveling vehicle 11 and outputs the angle to the adder 25. The other input terminal of the adder 25 is connected to the output terminal of the sun direction calculator 26.

The sun direction calculating unit 26 receives a lunar orbital element and time data at its input end, and receives the lunar orbital element, the time data, and the previous position of the lunar traveling vehicle (calculated by a current position calculating unit to be described later). The current azimuth angle in the sun direction is calculated based on the previous current position and output to the adder 25. The adder 25 subtracts the direction angle of the sun from the sun sensor 21 from the azimuth angle in the sun direction, and calculates the yaw attitude angle of the lunar traveling vehicle 11 about a third axis substantially orthogonal to the first and second axes. Is calculated and output to the route calculation unit 24.

The lunar orbital element is inputted with the latest information via the ground station or the like to the sun direction calculator. Then, the time data is input, for example, via clock means (not shown) mounted on the lunar traveling vehicle 11. These lunar orbital elements and time data may be configured to be transmitted from other spacecraft without being limited to ground stations.

A current position calculator 27 is connected to the route calculator 24, and the travel distance increment ΔS is added to the traveling direction vector (pitch, yaw) of the lunar traveling vehicle 11 every moment.
The three-dimensional route history S of the lunar traveling vehicle 11 is calculated based on the previous position (FIG. 3).
), And outputs the three-dimensional route history S to one input terminal of the current position calculation unit 27.

The current position calculating section 27 is connected to the output terminal of the lunar position calculating section 28, and the lunar traveling vehicle 1 has a constant period.
Lunar surface position information for one orbit is input. Thereby, the current position calculation unit 28 calculates the current position of the lunar traveling vehicle 11 on the moon based on the three-dimensional route history S and the lunar position information on the orbit of the lunar traveling vehicle 11.

The output terminal of the distance detector 29 is connected to the lunar position calculator 28. The distance detecting unit 29 receives the position information from the orbiting satellite 12, calculates the distance between the orbiting satellite 12 and the lunar traveling vehicle 11, and outputs the distance to the lunar position calculating unit 28. The lunar orbital element from the orbiting satellite 12 is input to the lunar surface position calculation unit 28, and the orbital element and the orbiting satellite 12
The lunar position with respect to the orbit of the lunar traveling vehicle 11 is calculated based on the distance information between and the previous position, and is output to the current position calculator 27.

The above-mentioned distance detecting section 29 is connected to one of the orbiting satellites 12.
In each orbit, the distance is detected at least three times within a visible range of the lunar traveling vehicle 11 and output to the lunar position detecting unit 28. The lunar position detecting unit 28 calculates the lunar position with respect to the orbit of the lunar traveling vehicle 11 based on the latest distance information inputted each time the distance information is input, and obtains the latest lunar position. The data is output to the current position calculator 27.

The orbital elements of the orbiting satellite 12 are corrected / updated to the latest data based on information on the distance between the lunar lander 10 and the orbiting satellite 12. The position information from the orbiting satellite 12 does not have to be a known GPS signal. For example, the distance detecting unit 29 that transmits a radio wave from the orbiting satellite 12 and receives the radio wave to calculate a distance between the orbiting satellites is configured. You may make it. Further, the distance detection unit 29 may be configured to transmit the lunar traveling vehicle 10 to the orbiting satellite 12 and receive the reflected wave to detect the distance between the two.

With the above configuration, when the lunar traveling vehicle 11 travels on the lunar surface, the distance is calculated by the distance detecting unit 29 based on the positional information from the orbiting satellite 12 for each traveling position as described above. Output to the surface position detection unit 28. The lunar position calculation unit 28 calculates the lunar position of the lunar traveling vehicle 11 with respect to the orbiting satellite 12 based on the distance information, the orbital elements, and the previous position, and outputs the lunar position to the current position detection unit 27.

At the same time, the wheel rotation angle detection section 20 detects the rotation angle of the wheel and outputs it to the slip correction section 23. The slip correction unit 23 calculates ΔS = α × ΔΘ × 2πr as described above based on the input wheel rotation angle information, calculates the travel distance increment ΔS, and outputs it to the route calculation unit 24.

The inclinometer 22 detects the pitch attitude angle and the roll attitude angle of the lunar traveling vehicle 11 and outputs them to the route calculating section 24. Further, the sun sensor 21 detects the direction angle of the sun and outputs the angle to the adder 25. The azimuth angle information of the sun calculated by the sun direction calculation unit 26 is input to the adder 25, and the azimuth angle and the directional angle of the sun are subtracted to calculate the yaw attitude angle of the lunar traveling vehicle 11, Route calculation unit 2
4 is output.

Here, the route calculation unit 24 calculates a three-dimensional route history S based on the input travel distance increment ΔS, pitch and roll posture angle information, yaw posture angle information and the previous position, and calculates a current position calculation unit. 27. The current position calculation unit 27 calculates the input three-dimensional route history S and the lunar traveling vehicle 11
Vehicle 1 based on the lunar position with respect to the orbit of the moon
The current position on the moon surface is calculated.

As described above, the lunar / planetary traveling vehicle position measurement system specifies the orbital orbital element based on the position information of the orbiting satellite 12 based on the position of the lunar lander 10 and also transmits the lunar traveling vehicle 11 To detect the distance from the orbiting satellite 12 and its orbital elements and distance information and the lunar traveling vehicle 11
The lunar position with respect to the orbit of the lunar traveling vehicle 11 is calculated based on the previous position of the lunar surface. At the same time, the pitch attitude angle and the roll attitude angle of the lunar traveling vehicle 11 are detected by the inclinometer 22,
The yaw attitude angle of the lunar traveling vehicle 11 is detected from the azimuth angle of the sun calculated based on the direction angle of the sun detected by the sun sensor 21 and the moon orbital element and the time data, and the pitch attitude angle and the roll attitude angle are detected. The three-dimensional path history of the lunar traveling vehicle 11 is obtained based on the yaw attitude angle and the travel distance increment, and the current position on the lunar surface is calculated based on the lunar position of the lunar traveling vehicle 11 with respect to the orbit. It was configured to be.

According to this, the traveling position controlled by the lunar traveling vehicle 11 is measured not only by simple estimation but also based on a three-dimensional path history, and is calibrated for each orbit of the orbiting satellite 12, thereby increasing the number of times. In addition, since it is possible to detect the current position including an error corresponding to the measurement error generated during one orbit of the orbiting satellite 12, highly reliable and highly accurate position measurement is realized over the entire lunar surface. You.

Therefore, it is possible to contribute to the promotion of lunar exploration and exploration in the field of space development in the future. In addition,
In the above embodiment, the case where the lunar lander 10 is configured as a lunar / planetary base station has been described. However, the present invention is not limited to this.
It is also possible to use a fixed station fixedly arranged on the lunar surface as a lunar / planetary base station.

In the above embodiment, the orbiting satellite 12
Although the description has been given of a case where one device is provided, the present invention is not limited to this, and a plurality of devices may be provided. In this case, it is expected that the measurement accuracy can be further improved by increasing the range in which the orbiting satellite 12 is visible from the lunar traveling vehicle 11.

Further, in the above-described embodiment, the case where the traveling position of the lunar traveling vehicle 11 is measured has been described. However, the present invention is not limited to this. It is also possible to configure so as to measure the traveling position of the traveling vehicle. 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.

[0033]

As described in detail above, according to the present invention, the lunar / planetary traveling can be realized in a simple configuration and the traveling position of the lunar / planetary traveling vehicle can be measured accurately and with high accuracy. A vehicle position measurement system can be provided.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a view for explaining a schematic configuration of a lunar / planetary traveling vehicle position measuring system according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a position measurement system of the lunar traveling vehicle in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a concept of calculation by a route calculation unit in FIG. 2;

[Explanation of symbols]

 10: Moon landing aircraft. 11: Vehicle traveling on the moon. 12 orbiting satellite. 20: Wheel rotation angle detection sensor. 21 ... Sun sensor. 22 ... inclinometer. 23 ... Slip correction unit. 24 ... Route calculation unit. 25 ... Adder. 26 ... Sun direction calculation unit. 27 ... Current position calculation unit. 28: Lunar surface position calculation unit. 29: Distance detection unit.

Claims (6)

[Claims] An orbiting spacecraft for navigating the orbit of the moon / planet and transmitting position information and orbital elements, and a position identified and deployed on the moon / planet, and the orbiting spacecraft A moon / planetary base station that receives position information from the satellite, identifies the orbit of the orbiting spacecraft based on its time history, and transmits the orbiting element to the orbiting spacecraft as an orbital element. A moon / planetary vehicle that travels above and receives position information and orbital elements from the orbiting spacecraft, and detects the rotation angle of the wheels of the moon / planetary vehicle to perform slip correction, A travel distance calculating means for calculating a travel distance increment of the planetary traveling vehicle; and a tilt angle detection for detecting first and second attitude angles about the moon and the planetary traveling vehicle which are substantially parallel to and perpendicular to the moon / planetary plane. Means and the sun for the moon / planetary vehicle A sun sensor that detects the direction angle, calculates the azimuth of the sun direction based on the moon / planetary orbital element and the time data and the previous position of the moon / planetary traveling vehicle, based on the direction of the sun detected by the sun sensor. Attitude angle calculating means for calculating a third axis attitude angle substantially perpendicular to the first and second axes, and a travel distance increment calculated by the travel distance calculation means and a tilt angle detected by the inclination angle detection means. Path history calculating means for calculating a three-dimensional path history of the lunar / planetary traveling vehicle based on first and second around-axis attitude angles and a third around-axis attitude angle calculated by the attitude angle calculating means; Calculating the distance between the lunar / planetary vehicle and the orbiting spacecraft, and calculating the distance between the orbital element from the orbiting spacecraft and the previous position of the lunar / planetary vehicle; Orbit of the orbiting spacecraft Position detecting means for detecting a position on the moon / planet surface with respect to the three-dimensional path history calculated by the path history calculating means based on the lunar / planet position detected by the position detecting means to determine the current position. And a current position calculating means for calculating the position of the lunar / planetary traveling vehicle. 2. The position detecting means calculates a distance between the lunar / planetary traveling vehicle and the orbiting spacecraft in at least three times in which the orbiting spacecraft is visible in one orbit of the orbiting spacecraft. The lunar / planetary traveling vehicle position measuring system according to claim 1, wherein the lunar / planetary traveling position of the lunar / planetary traveling vehicle is calculated based on the distance information. 3. The lunar / planetary traveling vehicle position measuring system according to claim 1, wherein said position detecting means has a syndication system by radio waves, and measures a distance by a ranging system. 4. The orbiting spacecraft is deployed in a plurality of orbits of the moon and planets.
The lunar / planetary vehicle position measurement system according to any of the above. 5. The moon according to claim 1, wherein said lunar / planetary base station is a lunar / planetary lander for transporting said lunar / planetary vehicle on the lunar / planetary plane. -Planetary vehicle position measurement system. 6. The lunar / planetary traveling vehicle position measuring system according to claim 1, wherein the lunar / planet is a moon.