Satellite Hall propulsion load equivalent test device, method and equipment

Abstract

The invention provides an equivalent testing device, method and equipment for a Hall propulsion load of a satellite. The equivalent testing device mainly comprises a thruster equivalent module, a storage and supply equivalent module, a high-voltage switching module and an equipment monitoring method. The thruster equivalent module is used for simulating a Hall thruster unit and realizing the load characteristics of the whole satellite under various working conditions under normal temperature and normal pressure; the storage and supply equivalent module is used for simulating a propulsion control unit load and mainly comprises control signal conditioning and state acquisition of a self-locking valve, an electromagnetic valve and a pressure sensor; the high-voltage switching module is used for connecting a load simulation cabinet cable and a satellite end cable, and a high-voltage alarm sub-module and a storage and supply self-checking sub-module are designed at the same time. The equipment monitoring method is used for collecting equipment state parameters and receiving a control remote instruction. The equipment is used for checking whether the function and the performance of the satellite Hall propulsion system are normal or not, the compatibility and the expansibility are high, and the equivalent requirements of different satellite Hall propulsion systems are met by adopting universal and modular design.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] This invention relates to the technical field of satellite integrated testing, and more specifically, to a satellite Hall thrust load equivalent testing apparatus, method, and equipment. Background Technology

[0002] Satellite propulsion systems can be divided into chemical propulsion and electric propulsion. Both belong to jet propulsion, utilizing the momentum generated by the ejection of propellant from the thruster to produce thrust. However, their working principles and application characteristics differ. Chemical propulsion integrates the energy subsystem and the propellant supply, characterized by high thrust, a wide range of applications, and suitability for rapid maneuvers, requiring the carrying of heavy liquids or solids. Electric propulsion, on the other hand, has an independent energy subsystem and propellant supply, with the propellant including gas, liquid, or solid. It is characterized by high specific impulse and precise thrust control, suitable for applications with limited propellant weight and high-precision control. In recent years, the requirements for long satellite lifespan and high payload ratio have continuously increased, leading to the rapid development of Hall effect propulsion technology using plasma gas as the propellant, currently achieving an application rate of over 90% in satellites. The load characteristics simulated by the chemical propulsion equivalent mainly include the electrical interfaces of the onboard equipment and the electrical performance of the satellite valves. The load simulation of electric propulsion includes two parts: thruster equivalence and storage-supply equivalence. The former requires the use of electronic load resistance mode to simulate the thruster state under different operating conditions, while the latter requires simulating the valve opening and closing state and providing pressure signals to the electric propulsion control unit. It is evident that the load equivalent equipment previously developed based on chemical propulsion design is no longer suitable for the whole-satellite testing of electric propulsion and cannot meet the testing requirements of electric propulsion. Therefore, developing a load equivalent equipment for the whole-satellite electrical testing phase of Hall thruster systems is of great significance for improving the whole-satellite testing coverage and ensuring the successful launch and operation of satellites.

[0003] The following is a survey of relevant patents both domestically and internationally:

[0004] Patent number CN105044613B, entitled "High-Fidelity Satellite Load Scene Reproduction Device and Method," addresses the power supply and distribution system composed of satellite load, solar array, and batteries. It uses data acquisition card to drive modulated signals to simulate the real load, achieving high-precision and repeatable simulation of load variation characteristics. Unlike this invention, this patent simulates bus load, which has limited application requirements in actual engineering development; integrated satellite testing focuses more on the bus response of the real load. This invention, based on the actual requirements of propulsion system electrical performance and interfaces, designs an equivalent device to simulate Hall thruster load.

[0005] The patent number is CN203117306U, and the patent name is "Ground Test Equipment for Propulsion Circuit Box of Satellite Propulsion Subsystem". This invention discloses a device for measuring the electrical noise performance of the conductive ring of the solar panel drive mechanism. Unlike this invention, this patent is aimed at the testing of propulsion unit products and is applied to the testing of solar array drive mechanism. In addition, the circuit box uses a programmable power supply, and the equipment is used in an environment other than the whole satellite conditions, which is completely different from this invention.

[0006] The patent, with patent number CN102944805B and titled "A Method for Testing the Polarity of a Satellite Propulsion Subsystem Using Sensor Technology," discloses a method for testing the polarity of a satellite propulsion system using sensor technology. This method addresses the shortcomings of high reliance on manual labor and low efficiency in polarity testing. However, unlike this invention, this patent is designed for polarity detection using a 10N micro-flow sensor for chemical propulsion, and therefore cannot meet the equivalent requirements of a Hall thruster system.

[0007] Patent number CN111551369A, entitled "A Test System, Method, and Apparatus for Satellite Electric Propulsion Systems," addresses the problem of lengthy thermal vacuum experiments for electric propulsion systems in existing technologies. By installing a simulated path conversion device outside the vacuum chamber, it simplifies and directly enables the connection conversion of the power processing module between the load simulator and the electric thruster, avoiding the need to open the vacuum chamber during thermal vacuum experiments to achieve this connection conversion, thus reducing experimental time. Unlike this invention, which focuses on single-unit product testing during the thermal vacuum experiment phase for testing actual thruster ignition, this patent lacks clear high-pressure resistance capabilities and alarm and self-test designs. This invention, however, targets whole-satellite testing. Considering the cleanliness requirements of whole-satellite thermal vacuum tests prevent actual ignition, it not only simulates thruster ignition conditions at various stages of whole-satellite testing but also incorporates safety features, including a high-voltage conversion device and a self-test device to ensure both equipment and satellite safety.

[0008] Patent number CN113202706A, titled "A Hall-effect electric propulsion system for GEO orbit satellites," solves the problem of chemical propellants consuming significant weight and space resources on the satellite platform. It employs high-specific-impulse electric propulsion for orbital maneuvers to achieve north-south position maintenance. Unlike this invention, this one belongs to the field of GEO satellite design, not satellite testing.

[0009] The patent, with patent number CN114977462A and titled "MPPT Control Device, Method and Equipment for Satellite Electric Propulsion Systems," invented a new bus regulation technology based on maximum power point tracking, overcoming the defects of simple series or parallel power regulation. Unlike this invention, this invention belongs to power control algorithm design, achieving high-precision maximum power point matching with the load, and can accurately track the high dynamic response of Hall thrusters. However, this invention is unrelated to testing equipment.

[0010] The patent, with patent number CN111487065A and titled "A Closed-Loop Joint Testing Method for Satellite Control System and Electric Propulsion System," invented a closed-loop testing method for a control system and an electric propulsion system, achieving a comprehensive simulation of the on-orbit operating timing of the electric propulsion system. Unlike this invention, this patent only targets the joint testing of control and electric propulsion. However, satellite systems are complex, and the electric propulsion system also has interfaces with subsystems such as power supply and distribution, telemetry and control, integrated electronics, and structure, making it impossible to cover the testing needs of the entire satellite.

[0011] Therefore, a new technical solution needs to be proposed. Summary of the Invention

[0012] To address the shortcomings of existing technologies, the purpose of this invention is to provide a satellite Hall thrust load equivalent testing device, method, and equipment.

[0013] According to the present invention, a satellite Hall thrust load equivalent test device includes: a thruster load equivalent device and a storage and supply load equivalent device;

[0014] The thruster load equivalent device includes an anode equivalent submodule, a cathode heating equivalent submodule, a cathode ignition equivalent submodule, and an excitation load equivalent submodule;

[0015] The equivalent equipment for the storage and supply load includes an industrial control computer rack-type board module, a signal conditioning circuit module, and a self-test module; the industrial control computer is equipped with analog signal acquisition, digital level signal acquisition, and programmable resistor analog boards, which have the same function as self-locking valves, solenoid valves, and pressure sensors, and the industrial control computer performs the acquisition and control of the boards.

[0016] Preferably, the anode equivalent of the thrust load equivalent device adopts a constant resistance state to simulate the ignition condition and a high resistance state to simulate the circuit breaker condition, respectively; the cathode heating equivalent adopts a constant resistance state to simulate the heating condition and a high resistance state to simulate the circuit breaker condition, respectively; the cathode ignition equivalent adopts a constant resistance state to simulate the self-sustaining condition and a high resistance state to simulate the ignition condition, respectively; and the excitation load equivalent adopts a constant resistance state to simulate the on-state condition and a high resistance state to simulate the circuit breaker condition, respectively.

[0017] Preferably, the equivalent device for the storage and supply load uses a programmable resistor card + conditioning operational amplifier to simulate multi-channel pressure sensor signals; uses a programmable resistor card + conditioning operational amplifier + differential AD acquisition card to measure multi-channel pressure sensor signals; uses a power load + optocoupler isolation conditioning circuit to simulate self-locking valve signals and acquire switch status; and uses a power load + optocoupler isolation conditioning circuit to simulate solenoid valve load and acquire switch status.

[0018] Preferably, the self-test submodule is placed in the high-voltage conversion device for storage and power supply self-testing. An AC-DC regulated power supply module is used to convert 220V to 28V, and the 28V power output is connected to the self-test source board. The self-test source board outputs 28V power and 28V signal for valve self-testing and pressure transmission self-testing, respectively. The 28V power output is controlled by a relay board, which provides 36-channel switch control. The rear panel has two connectors, K1 and K2. K1 controls the first 16 valve switches, and K2 controls the remaining 20. Only one switch is allowed to be tested during self-testing. The rear panel Z1 connector provides 36 channels of 28V power output, which are time-divisionally connected to the storage and power supply equivalents W1 and W2 to complete the self-testing of the valve monitoring functions of W1 and W2.

[0019] Preferably, the signal conditioning circuit submodule completes the signal conversion between the high-voltage adapter box and the industrial control computer board, including multi-channel differential analog signal AD acquisition, multi-channel isolated digital level signal acquisition, and multi-channel programmable resistor signal processing and conversion;

[0020] The signal conditioning circuit submodule includes a housing, a power control switch on the front panel, a connector on the rear panel for connecting to the satellite, a connector on the rear panel for connecting to the industrial control computer, a 220V AC power supply interface, and a grounding interface for adapting to different signal interfaces. The conditioning box contains a set of power resistors, a conditioning circuit board, and an AC-DC modular power supply.

[0021] Preferably, the signal conditioning circuit submodule uses power resistors to represent the coils of the solenoid valve and the self-locking valve relay. Based on the voltage and resistance characteristics of different valve coils, power resistors of different attribute categories are used to simulate the valve's switching function.

[0022] The signal conditioning circuit submodule uses a programmable adjustable resistor to divide the voltage and then outputs it to the satellite end and the board acquisition end through an operational amplifier, which is the same as the function of the multi-channel pressure sensor. The adjustable resistor is simulated by a PCI-7012 programmable resistor card, and the programmable resistor range is 2Ω-6.7kΩ. Zener diodes are used at the input and output terminals of the operational amplifier LM358P to limit the voltage, and 4.3V is selected as the regulated voltage value.

[0023] This invention also provides a satellite Hall thrust load equivalent testing device, comprising: a high-voltage conversion module device, the high-voltage conversion module device including a housing, a self-test power control switch on the front panel, a Y2-50 connector on the front panel for connection to the satellite end, a connector on the rear panel for connection to the thruster load cabinet end, a 220V AC power supply interface and a grounding interface, for adapting to different types of signal interfaces; the high-voltage conversion module device is designed with universal connectors and processed cables with a withstand voltage of over 600V, wherein the Y2 connectors and J36A connectors are both military-grade products with a withstand voltage of 1000V, used to receive the high-voltage interface provided by the satellite end.

[0024] Preferably, the high-voltage conversion module is designed with an alarm submodule to trigger an alarm. The anode ignition and cathode ignition signals of each thruster are led out and connected in series with the high-resistance power resistor inside the housing and the diode alarm indicator light on the rear panel.

[0025] The present invention also provides a satellite Hall thrust load equivalent test method, the method including an equipment monitoring method, the equipment monitoring method including a communication submodule, a data display submodule, a data acquisition submodule, a data storage submodule, and a control submodule;

[0026] The communication submodule is used to connect to all devices configured in the resource configuration table, and acts as a ground equipment client to connect to and log in to the comprehensive measurement server.

[0027] The data display submodule is used to refresh the page display device parameters in real time and display the network connection status with the load simulator and server in real time.

[0028] The data acquisition submodule is used to collect device parameters and send the collected data to the data storage submodule and the data display submodule.

[0029] The data storage submodule is used to receive data from the data acquisition submodule and store various parameters, and at the same time store the received instruction data. The stored information includes instruction reception time, instruction number, and return status word of reception control parameters.

[0030] The control submodule is used to receive the instruction code transmitted by the communication submodule, match the instruction code with the device, device channel and mode, and mode parameter information, parse it into a control string that the device can recognize, and send remote control commands to the device via Ethernet to control it.

[0031] Preferably, in response to the differentiated physical interfaces and functional requirements of satellite overall electrical performance testing, a dedicated adapter module is used to achieve hardware interface adaptation, meeting the testing requirements for satellite propulsion and storage function testing and one thruster function testing; software configuration overload is used to achieve functional requirement adaptation, meeting the hardware requirements for testing different signal types and number of channels, and an electronic load cluster method is used to meet the simultaneous simulation testing of up to three thruster units.

[0032] Compared with the prior art, the present invention has the following beneficial effects:

[0033] 1. This invention follows the design principles of standardization, serialization, and modularization of testing equipment, and meets the testing requirements of different satellite propulsion designs by loading configurations;

[0034] 2. The load equivalent device designed in this invention provides the ignition test function for the whole satellite test, overcoming the limitation that the real thruster can only be ignited under vacuum conditions, and improving the coverage of test items in different stages of the whole satellite test.

[0035] 3. The equipment can be connected to the existing satellite integrated testing system to meet the data acquisition and management needs throughout the satellite's entire lifecycle;

[0036] 4. This invention adopts a modular design, offering strong portability and scalability, as well as robust system fault tolerance and resilience. In practical applications, it enables functions such as timed communication protocol conversion, data format conversion and storage, data processing and distribution, real-time monitoring, and remote control.

[0037] 5. This invention takes into account safety and reliability design, and includes a high-voltage alarm function and a storage and supply self-test function, which are used to ensure the normal operation of satellite output and ground equipment channels, and the system has strong fault tolerance and damage resistance. Attached Figure Description

[0038] Other features, objects, and advantages of the present invention will become more apparent from the following detailed description of non-limiting embodiments with reference to the accompanying drawings:

[0039] Figure 1 Schematic diagram of the equivalent test device, method and equipment for satellite Hall thruster load;

[0040] Figure 2 Design schematic diagram of alarm submodule and storage and self-test submodule for high voltage transfer device;

[0041] Figure 3 Design diagram for monitoring software architecture;

[0042] Figure 4 Diagram of the cabinet for the electric propulsion equivalent unit;

[0043] Figure 5 This is the interface circuit diagram for the valve equivalent.

[0044] Figure 6 Diagram of valve load level status acquisition and conditioning circuit;

[0045] Figure 7 This is a circuit diagram for voltage transmission signal conditioning. Detailed Implementation

[0046] The present invention will now be described in detail with reference to specific embodiments. These embodiments will help those skilled in the art to further understand the present invention, but do not limit the invention in any way. It should be noted that those skilled in the art can make several changes and improvements without departing from the concept of the present invention. These all fall within the protection scope of the present invention.

[0047] Example 1:

[0048] According to the present invention, a satellite Hall thrust load equivalent test device includes: a thruster load equivalent device and a storage and supply load equivalent device; the thruster load equivalent device includes an anode equivalent submodule, a cathode heating equivalent submodule, a cathode ignition equivalent submodule, and an excitation load equivalent submodule; the storage and supply load equivalent device includes an industrial control computer rack-type board submodule, a signal conditioning circuit submodule, and a self-test submodule; the industrial control computer is equipped with analog quantity acquisition, digital level signal acquisition, and programmable resistor analog boards, which function the same as self-locking valves, solenoid valves, and pressure sensors, and the industrial control computer performs the acquisition and control of the boards.

[0049] The anode equivalent of the thrust load is simulated under constant resistance to ignition and high resistance to open circuit conditions, respectively; the cathode heating equivalent is simulated under constant resistance to heating and high resistance to open circuit conditions, respectively; the cathode ignition equivalent is simulated under constant resistance to self-sustaining conditions and high resistance to ignition, respectively; and the excitation load equivalent is simulated under constant resistance to on-state conditions and high resistance to open circuit conditions, respectively.

[0050] The equivalent equipment for the storage and supply load uses a programmable resistor card and a conditioning operational amplifier to simulate multi-channel pressure sensor signals; it uses a programmable resistor card, a conditioning operational amplifier, and a differential AD acquisition card to measure multi-channel pressure sensor signals; it uses a power load and an optocoupler isolation conditioning circuit to simulate self-locking valve signals and acquire switch status; and it uses a power load and an optocoupler isolation conditioning circuit to simulate solenoid valve load and acquire switch status.

[0051] The self-test submodule is placed in the high-voltage conversion device for storage and power supply self-testing. It uses an AC-DC regulated power supply module to convert 220V to 28V, and the 28V power output is connected to the self-test source board. The self-test source board outputs 28V power output and 28V signal output, which are used for valve self-testing and pressure transmission self-testing, respectively. The 28V power output is controlled by a relay board, which provides 36-channel switch control. The rear panel is divided into two connectors, K1 and K2. K1 completes the control of the first 16 valve switches, and K2 completes the control of the last 20 valve switches. Only one switch is allowed to be tested during self-testing. The 36-channel 28V power output is provided through the Z1 connector on the rear panel, which is time-divisionally connected to the storage and power supply equivalents W1 and W2 to complete the self-testing of the valve monitoring functions of W1 and W2.

[0052] The signal conditioning circuit submodule completes the signal conversion between the high-voltage adapter box and the industrial control computer board, including multi-channel differential analog signal AD acquisition, multi-channel isolated digital level signal acquisition, and multi-channel programmable resistor signal processing and conversion. The signal conditioning circuit submodule includes a housing, a power control switch on the front panel, a connector on the rear panel for connecting to the satellite terminal, a connector on the rear panel for connecting to the industrial control computer, a 220V AC power supply interface, and a grounding interface, adapting to different signal interface models. The conditioning box internally uses one set of power resistors, one conditioning circuit board, and one AC-DC modular power supply. The circuit submodule uses power resistors to represent the coils of the solenoid valve and the self-locking valve relay. Based on the voltage and resistance characteristics of different valve coils, power resistors of different attribute categories are used to simulate the valve's switching function. The signal conditioning circuit submodule uses a programmable adjustable resistor to divide the voltage and output it to the satellite end and the board's acquisition end through an operational amplifier, which is the same as the function of a multi-channel pressure sensor. The adjustable resistor is simulated using a PCI-7012 programmable resistor card, with a programmable resistor range of 2Ω-6.7kΩ. Zener diodes are used at the input and output terminals of the operational amplifier LM358P to limit the voltage, and 4.3V is selected as the regulated voltage value.

[0053] This invention also provides a satellite Hall thrust load equivalent testing device, comprising: a high-voltage conversion module device, the high-voltage conversion module device including a housing, a self-test power control switch on the front panel, a Y2-50 connector on the front panel for connection to the satellite end, a connector on the rear panel for connection to the thruster load cabinet end, a 220V AC power supply interface and a grounding interface, for adapting to different types of signal interfaces; the high-voltage conversion module device is designed with universal connectors and processed cables with a withstand voltage of over 600V, wherein the Y2 connectors and J36A connectors are both military-grade products with a withstand voltage of 1000V, used to receive the high-voltage interface provided by the satellite end.

[0054] The high-voltage conversion module is designed with an alarm submodule to trigger an alarm. The anode and cathode ignition signals of each thruster are led out and connected in series with the high-resistance power resistor inside the enclosure and the diode alarm indicator on the rear panel.

[0055] This invention also provides a satellite Hall thrust load equivalent testing method, the method including an equipment monitoring method, which comprises a communication submodule, a data display submodule, a data acquisition submodule, a data storage submodule, and a control submodule. The communication submodule connects to all devices configured in the resource configuration table, acts as a ground equipment client, and connects to and logs into the comprehensive testing server. The data display submodule refreshes the page in real time to display device parameters and the network connection status with the load simulator and server. The data acquisition submodule collects device parameters and sends the collected data to the data storage and data display submodules. The data storage submodule receives data from the data acquisition submodule and stores various parameters, as well as received command data, including command reception time, command number, and received control parameter return status word. The control submodule receives command codes transmitted by the communication submodule, matches the command codes with device, device channel and mode, and mode parameter information, parses them into a control string that the device can recognize, and sends remote control commands to the device via Ethernet for control.

[0056] To address the diverse physical interfaces and functional requirements of satellite overall electrical performance testing, a dedicated adapter module is used to adapt the hardware interfaces, meeting the optimized testing needs for satellite propulsion and storage functions and the function testing of a single thruster. Software configuration overload is used to adapt the functional requirements, satisfying the hardware needs for different signal types and channel numbers. An electronic load cluster approach is employed to simultaneously simulate and test up to three thruster units.

[0057] Example 2:

[0058] This invention discloses a satellite Hall thruster load equivalent testing device, method, and equipment, mainly including a thruster equivalent module, a storage and supply equivalent module, a high-voltage transfer module, and an equipment monitoring method. The thruster equivalent module simulates the Hall thruster unit, realizing the load characteristics of the entire satellite under various operating conditions at normal temperature and pressure. The storage and supply equivalent module simulates the load of the propulsion control unit, mainly including control signal conditioning and status acquisition for self-locking valves, solenoid valves, and pressure sensors. The high-voltage transfer module connects the load simulation cabinet cable and the satellite-end cable, and also includes two sub-modules: a high-voltage alarm and a storage and supply self-test. The equipment monitoring method collects equipment status parameters and receives remote control commands. This equipment is used to check the functionality and performance of a satellite Hall thruster system. It has strong compatibility and scalability, and adopts a universal and modular design to meet the equivalent requirements of different satellite Hall thruster systems.

[0059] This invention provides a satellite Hall thrust load equivalent testing device, method, and equipment. The equipment adopts a generalized design architecture and standardized board design concept to meet the needs of satellites with different orbital altitudes, different thruster configurations, and different numbers of storage and supply valve channels. At the same time, it adopts a remote acquisition and control method to meet the remote testing and data analysis and storage needs of front-end testers. It can reliably and efficiently complete various tests on the electrical functions and electrical interfaces of the satellite propulsion system.

[0060] The present invention provides a satellite Hall thrust load equivalent testing device, method and equipment, including four modules: thruster load equivalent, storage and supply load equivalent, high voltage transfer and equipment monitoring.

[0061] To address the differentiated physical interfaces and functional requirements for testing the overall electrical performance of satellites, a dedicated adapter module is used to adapt the hardware interfaces, meeting the optimized testing requirements for satellite propulsion and energy storage functions and the function testing of a single thruster. Software configuration overload is used to adapt the functional requirements, satisfying the hardware needs for different signal types and channel numbers. An electronic load cluster approach is employed to simultaneously simulate and test up to three thruster units.

[0062] The thruster load and other equipment include an anode equivalent submodule, a cathode heating equivalent submodule, a cathode ignition equivalent submodule, and an excitation load equivalent submodule.

[0063] The anode equivalent uses a constant resistance state to simulate the ignition condition and a high resistance state to simulate the circuit breaker condition, respectively; the cathode heating equivalent uses a constant resistance state to simulate the heating condition and a high resistance state to simulate the circuit breaker condition, respectively; the cathode ignition equivalent uses a constant resistance state to simulate the self-sustaining condition and a high resistance state to simulate the ignition condition, respectively; and the excitation load equivalent uses a constant resistance state to simulate the on-state condition and a high resistance state to simulate the circuit breaker condition, respectively.

[0064] The equivalent equipment for the storage and supply load includes four sub-modules: an industrial control computer rack-mounted board, a signal conditioning circuit, and a self-test module. The industrial control computer internally installs analog signal acquisition, digital level signal acquisition, and programmable resistor analog boards, providing equivalent functions for self-locking valves, solenoid valves, and pressure sensors. The acquisition and control functions of the boards are implemented by the industrial control computer.

[0065] The equivalent equipment for the storage and supply load uses a "programmable resistor card + conditioning operational amplifier" approach to simulate multi-channel pressure sensor signals; it uses a "programmable resistor card + conditioning operational amplifier + differential AD acquisition card" approach to measure multi-channel pressure sensor signals; it uses a "power load + optocoupler isolation conditioning circuit" approach to simulate self-locking valve signals and acquire switch status; and it uses a "power load + optocoupler isolation conditioning circuit" approach to simulate solenoid valve load and acquire switch status.

[0066] The self-test submodule features a power supply self-test function, employing an AC-DC regulated power supply module to convert 220V to 28V, connecting the 28V power output to the self-test source board. The self-test source board outputs 28V power and 28V signal outputs for valve self-test and pressure transmission self-test, respectively. The 28V power output is controlled by a relay board, which provides 36-channel switch control. The rear panel has two connectors, K1 and K2. K1 controls the first 16 valve switches, and K2 controls the remaining 20. Only one switch is allowed to be tested during self-test; software protection prevents multiple switches from being activated to avoid insufficient power supply. The rear panel connector Z1 provides 36 28V power outputs, time-division multiplexing them with the power supply equivalents W1 and W2 to complete the self-test of valve monitoring functions W1 and W2.

[0067] The signal conditioning circuit submodule is used to complete the signal conversion between the high-voltage adapter box and the industrial control computer board, including multi-channel differential analog signal acquisition, multi-channel isolated digital level signal acquisition, and multi-channel programmable resistor signal processing and conversion. The signal conditioning circuit submodule consists of a housing, a power control switch on the front panel, a connector on the rear panel for connecting to the satellite terminal, a connector on the rear panel for connecting to the industrial control computer, a 220V AC power supply interface, and a grounding interface, enabling compatibility with different signal interface models. The conditioning box internally uses one set of power resistors, one conditioning circuit board, and one AC-DC modular power supply.

[0068] The signal conditioning circuit submodule uses power resistors to represent the relay coils of solenoid valves and self-locking valves. Based on the voltage and resistance characteristics of different valve coils, power resistors of different attribute categories are used to simulate the valve's switching function.

[0069] The signal conditioning circuit submodule uses a programmable adjustable resistor to divide the voltage, which is then output to the satellite end and the board's acquisition end via an operational amplifier, providing the equivalent function of a multi-channel pressure sensor. The adjustable resistor is simulated using a PCI-7012 programmable resistor card, with a programmable resistor range of 2Ω to 6.7kΩ. To prevent the programmable resistor from being accidentally too large, causing the voltage divider signal to exceed 4.5V, Zener diodes are used at the input and output terminals of the LM358P operational amplifier for voltage limiting. To ensure power supply safety, 4.3V is selected as the regulated voltage value.

[0070] The high-voltage conversion module consists of a housing, a self-test power control switch on the front panel, a Y2-50 connector on the front panel for connection to the satellite, a connector on the rear panel for connection to the thruster load cabinet, a 220V AC power supply interface, and a grounding interface, enabling compatibility with different signal interface models. The device is designed with universal connectors and manufactured cables with a withstand voltage of over 600V. The Y2 and J36A connectors are military-grade products with a withstand voltage of 1000V, used to connect to the high-voltage interface provided by the satellite.

[0071] The high-voltage conversion module is designed with an alarm submodule, which has an alarm function. It leads out the anode ignition and cathode ignition signals of each thruster and connects them in series with the high-resistance power resistor inside the box and the diode alarm indicator on the rear panel.

[0072] The equipment monitoring method includes a communication submodule, a data display submodule, a data acquisition submodule, a data storage submodule, and a control submodule, as shown in the appendix. Figure 3 The communication module connects to all devices configured in the resource configuration table and acts as a ground device client to connect to and log in to the comprehensive testing server. The data display module refreshes the page in real time to display device parameters and displays the network connection status with the load simulator and server in real time. The acquisition module collects device parameters and sends the collected data to the storage and display modules. The storage module receives data from the acquisition module and stores various parameters, as well as received command data, including command reception time, command number, and return status word of received control parameters. The control module receives command codes transmitted by the communication module, matches the command codes with device, device channel and mode, and mode parameter information, parses them into control strings that the device can recognize, and sends remote control commands to the device via Ethernet for control.

[0073] All the equipment and devices are placed in the thrust load equivalent cabinet, which is designed according to the standard 16U cabinet. The design size and functions of the equipment support the storage and supply function test of different satellite models and the test of one thruster. At the same time, considering the maximum configuration envelope of the thruster, an additional thruster load cabinet is designed, which is expanded through a high-voltage transfer box to support the simultaneous testing of three thrusters. The hardware and software configuration of the thruster equivalent equipment is consistent.

[0074] The valve load equivalent and switch state acquisition and conditioning circuit uses power resistors to represent the coils of the solenoid valve and the self-locking valve relay. Based on the different voltage and resistance characteristics of the solenoid valve coil and the self-locking valve coil, power resistors of corresponding specifications are used to simulate the switches of the solenoid valve and the self-locking valve. The voltage state across the power resistor is converted into a level signal by an optocoupler isolation conditioning circuit and sent to the industrial control computer acquisition card.

[0075] The conditioning circuit uses a TLP621 to perform optocoupler isolation conversion on the resistors across the power resistor.

[0076] The pressure sensor equivalent conditioning circuit described above is used to replace the actual pressure transmission from the satellite. It receives power from the satellite and uses a programmable adjustable resistor to divide the voltage, which is then output (0–4.5V) via an LM358P operational amplifier to the satellite and the board for data acquisition. It provides 18 equivalent pressure transmission channels to meet the maximum test envelope requirements. The adjustable resistor is simulated using a PCI-7012 programmable resistor card, with a programmable resistor range of 2Ω–6.7kΩ. To prevent the programmable resistor from being accidentally too large, causing the voltage divider signal to exceed 4.5V, Zener diodes are used at the input and output terminals of the LM358P operational amplifier for voltage limiting. A 4.3V Zener diode, model STMicroelectronics 1N4731, is selected.

[0077] The operational amplifier is powered by an isolated power supply chip MGS102412, which converts 18-36V to an isolated 12V power supply. The negative terminal of the 12V power supply is connected to the satellite ground.

[0078] Those skilled in the art can understand this embodiment as a more specific description of Embodiment 1.

[0079] Those skilled in the art will understand that, besides implementing the system and its various devices, modules, and units provided by this invention in the form of purely computer-readable program code, the same functions can be achieved entirely through logical programming of the method steps, making the system and its various devices, modules, and units of this invention function in the form of logic gates, switches, application-specific integrated circuits, programmable logic controllers, and embedded microcontrollers. Therefore, the system and its various devices, modules, and units provided by this invention can be considered as a hardware component, and the devices, modules, and units included therein for implementing various functions can also be considered as structures within the hardware component; alternatively, the devices, modules, and units for implementing various functions can be considered as both software modules implementing the method and structures within the hardware component.

[0080] Specific embodiments of the present invention have been described above. It should be understood that the present invention is not limited to the specific embodiments described above, and those skilled in the art can make various changes or modifications within the scope of the claims, which do not affect the essence of the present invention. Unless otherwise specified, the embodiments and features described in this application can be arbitrarily combined with each other.

Claims

1. A satellite Hall thrust load equivalent test device, characterized in that, include: Thrust load equivalent device and storage and supply load equivalent device; The thruster load equivalent device includes an anode equivalent submodule, a cathode heating equivalent submodule, a cathode ignition equivalent submodule, and an excitation load equivalent submodule; The equivalent equipment for the storage and supply load includes an industrial control computer rack-type board module, a signal conditioning circuit module, and a self-test module; the industrial control computer is equipped with analog signal acquisition, digital level signal acquisition, and programmable resistor analog boards, which have the same function as self-locking valves, solenoid valves, and pressure sensors, and the industrial control computer performs the acquisition and control of the boards.

2. The satellite Hall thruster load equivalent test device according to claim 1, characterized in that, The anode equivalent of the thruster load equivalent device adopts a constant resistance state to simulate the ignition condition and a high resistance state to simulate the circuit breaker condition, respectively; the cathode heating equivalent adopts a constant resistance state to simulate the heating condition and a high resistance state to simulate the circuit breaker condition, respectively; the cathode ignition equivalent adopts a constant resistance state to simulate the self-sustaining condition and a high resistance state to simulate the ignition condition, respectively; and the excitation load equivalent adopts a constant resistance state to simulate the on-state condition and a high resistance state to simulate the circuit breaker condition, respectively.

3. The satellite Hall thruster load equivalent test device according to claim 1, characterized in that, The equivalent device for the storage and supply load uses a programmable resistor card and a conditioning operational amplifier to simulate multi-channel pressure sensor signals; it uses a programmable resistor card, a conditioning operational amplifier, and a differential AD acquisition card to measure multi-channel pressure sensor signals; it uses a power load and an optocoupler isolation conditioning circuit to simulate self-locking valve signals and acquire switch status; and it uses a power load and an optocoupler isolation conditioning circuit to simulate solenoid valve load and acquire switch status.

4. The satellite Hall thruster load equivalent test device according to claim 1, characterized in that, The self-test submodule is placed in the high-voltage conversion device for storage and power supply self-testing. It uses an AC-DC regulated power supply module to convert 220V to 28V, and the 28V power output is connected to the self-test source board. The self-test source board outputs 28V power output and 28V signal output, which are used for valve self-testing and pressure transmission self-testing, respectively. The 28V power output is controlled by a relay board, which provides 36-channel switch control. The rear panel is divided into two connectors, K1 and K2. K1 completes the first 16-channel valve switch control, and K2 completes the second 20-channel valve switch control. Only one switch is allowed to be tested during self-testing. The 36-channel 28V power output is provided through the Z1 connector on the rear panel, which is time-divisionally connected to the storage and power supply equivalents W1 and W2 to complete the self-testing of the valve monitoring functions of W1 and W2.

5. The satellite Hall thruster load equivalent test device according to claim 1, characterized in that, The signal conditioning circuit submodule completes the signal conversion between the high-voltage adapter box and the industrial control computer board, including multi-channel differential analog quantity AD acquisition, multi-channel isolated digital level signal acquisition, and multi-channel programmable resistor signal processing and conversion. The signal conditioning circuit submodule includes a housing, a power control switch on the front panel, a connector on the rear panel for connecting to the satellite, a connector on the rear panel for connecting to the industrial control computer, a 220V AC power supply interface, and a grounding interface for adapting to different signal interfaces. The conditioning box contains a set of power resistors, a conditioning circuit board, and an AC-DC modular power supply.

6. The satellite Hall thruster load equivalent test device according to claim 5, characterized in that, The signal conditioning circuit submodule uses power resistors to represent the coils of the solenoid valve and the self-locking valve relay. Based on the voltage and resistance characteristics of different valve coils, power resistors of different attribute categories are used to simulate the valve's switching function. The signal conditioning circuit submodule uses a programmable adjustable resistor to divide the voltage and then outputs it to the satellite end and the board acquisition end through an operational amplifier, which is the same as the function of the multi-channel pressure sensor. The adjustable resistor is simulated by a PCI-7012 programmable resistor card, and the programmable resistor range is 2Ω-6.7kΩ. Zener diodes are used at the input and output terminals of the operational amplifier LM358P to limit the voltage, and 4.3V is selected as the regulated voltage value.

7. A satellite Hall thrust load equivalent test device, characterized in that, include: The high-voltage conversion module includes a housing, a self-test power control switch on the front panel, a Y2-50 connector on the front panel for connection to the satellite, a connector on the rear panel for connection to the thruster load cabinet, a 220V AC power supply interface, and a grounding interface, allowing for compatibility with different signal interfaces. The high-voltage conversion module is designed with universal connectors and processed cables that withstand voltages of 600V or higher. The Y2 connectors and J36A connectors are both military-grade products with a withstand voltage of 1000V, used to connect to the high-voltage interface provided by the satellite.

8. The satellite Hall thruster load equivalent test device according to claim 7, characterized in that, The high-voltage conversion module is designed with an alarm submodule to trigger an alarm. It outputs the anode and cathode ignition signals of each thruster and connects them in series with the high-resistance power resistor inside the housing and the diode alarm indicator on the rear panel.

9. A method for equivalent testing of satellite Hall thruster load, characterized in that, The method includes a device monitoring method, which includes a communication submodule, a data display submodule, a data acquisition submodule, a data storage submodule, and a control submodule. The communication submodule is used to connect to all devices configured in the resource configuration table, and acts as a ground equipment client to connect to and log in to the comprehensive measurement server. The data display submodule is used to refresh the page display device parameters in real time and display the network connection status with the load simulator and server in real time. The data acquisition submodule is used to collect device parameters and send the collected data to the data storage submodule and the data display submodule. The data storage submodule is used to receive data from the data acquisition submodule and store various parameters, and at the same time store the received instruction data. The stored information includes instruction reception time, instruction number, and return status word of reception control parameters. The control submodule is used to receive the instruction code transmitted by the communication submodule, match the instruction code with the device, device channel and mode, and mode parameter information, parse it into a control string that the device can recognize, and send remote control commands to the device via Ethernet to control it.

10. The satellite Hall thruster load equivalent test method according to claim 9, characterized in that, To address the diverse physical interfaces and functional requirements of satellite overall electrical performance testing, a dedicated adapter module is used to adapt the hardware interfaces, meeting the optimized testing needs for satellite propulsion and storage functions and the function testing of a single thruster. Software configuration overload is used to adapt the functional requirements, satisfying the hardware needs for different signal types and channel numbers. An electronic load cluster approach is employed to simultaneously simulate and test up to three thruster units.

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