An intelligent health monitoring system for space solar power stations

Abstract

The present application discloses an intelligent health monitoring system for a space solar power station, including a satellite network and a sensor network, wherein the satellite network monitors the overall structure of the space solar power station, and the sensor network monitors the key parts of the space solar power station. The present invention proposes an intelligent health monitoring system for ultra-large-scale flexible structures in space, such as space solar power stations, for monitoring the overall structure and health status of key parts of space solar power stations, and providing protection and guidance for the safe operation and maintenance of power stations on orbit.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present application relates to the field of aerospace technology, and in particular to an intelligent health monitoring system for a space solar power station. Background Art

[0002] Space solar power stations collect and convert solar energy in space, and transmit it to the ground in the form of microwaves or lasers, etc., where it is received by antennas, rectified and converted into electrical energy and then sent to the power grid. Compared with ground-based solar power stations, space solar power stations receive sunlight more continuously and stably, for a longer period of time, with a higher energy flow density, and are not affected by factors such as terrain and climate change. The development of space solar power stations will be an effective way to solve the earth's energy crisis.

[0003] During the long-term operation of space solar power stations in space, the harsh environment of high pressure, vacuum, strong radiation, ultra-low temperature, strong magnetic field, space debris, small meteorites, etc. often pose a great threat to the survival of the power station. For example, radiation can cause material performance degradation, thermal cycles can cause fatigue damage, and high-speed debris impacts can cause impact damage. For expensive space solar power stations, once serious material performance degradation or structural damage leads to power station failure, it is bound to cause major catastrophic accidents, and the losses will be immeasurable.

[0004] The development of a health monitoring system is crucial to ensure the safety and reliability of long-term in-orbit operation of space solar power stations. Traditional health monitoring solutions for spacecraft such as satellites and space stations mostly install various sensors on the structure to collect various parameters reflecting the health status of the structure in real time, and identify structural damage after signal processing and analysis and feature extraction. For example, NASA has deployed triaxial accelerometers and acoustic emission sensors on the International Space Station to measure the dynamic characteristics of the structure and detect impact and leakage events (Richards WL, Madaras E, Prosser WH, et al. NASA applications of structural health monitoring technology [C] / / 9th International Workshop on Structural Health Monitoring. 2013: 10-12.), and Kabashima et al. proposed to use fiber grating sensors to establish a satellite structural health monitoring system to detect typical thermal stress damage in satellite structures (Kabashima S, Ozaki T, Takeda N. Structural health monitoring using FBG sensor in space environment [C] / / Smart Structures and Materials 2001: Industrial and Commercial Applications of Smart Structures Technologies. International Society for Optics ... Photonics, 2001, 4332: 78-87.), Shen Weihe et al. proposed to deploy wireless sensors on spacecraft based on a star topology networking architecture to measure temperature, strain and multi-axis acceleration (Shen Weihe, Qi Huan, Zheng Rong, et al. Design of wireless health monitoring system for spacecraft [J]. Data Acquisition and Processing, 2021, 36(02): 214-221.).

[0005] These traditional health monitoring solutions have largely failed to meet the needs of health monitoring of ultra-large flexible structures in space, such as space solar power stations. The main reason is that the overall architecture of a space solar power station is a large-span truss with a size of often kilometers and high structural flexibility. If a large number of sensors are installed on it, it will inevitably cause a lot of additional mass to the structure. Moreover, these sensors can usually only measure certain parameters in the local area of ​​the structure, and there is a disadvantage that it is difficult to obtain the overall health status of the structure. Summary of the invention

[0006] The purpose of the present invention is to provide an intelligent health monitoring system for a space solar power station, and to propose an intelligent health monitoring system for space ultra-large-sized flexible structures such as space solar power stations, which is used to monitor the health status of the overall structure and key parts of the space solar power station, and provide protection and guidance for the on-orbit safe operation and maintenance of the power station.

[0007] To achieve the above object, the present invention provides the following technical solutions.

[0008] An embodiment of the present application discloses an intelligent health monitoring system for a space solar power station, including a satellite network and a sensor network. The satellite network monitors the overall structure of the space solar power station, and the sensor network monitors key parts of the space solar power station.

[0009] Preferably, in the above-mentioned space solar power station intelligent health monitoring system, the space solar power station includes a solar cell array, an energy conversion device, an energy transmitting device and a monitoring computer. The solar cell array collects solar energy and converts it into electrical energy. The energy conversion device converts the converted electrical energy into microwaves or lasers and transmits it to the ground through the energy transmitting device. The monitoring computer controls the operation of the space solar power station intelligent health monitoring system.

[0010] Preferably, in the above-mentioned space solar power station intelligent health monitoring system, the solar cell array includes a support beam, a guide rail installed on the support beam and an inflatable tempered rod, a space robot arm sliding on the guide rail, and a sail membrane that is expanded and retracted by inflating and deflating the inflatable tempered rod, the space robot arm includes a controller and an actuator, the controller receives the task instructions issued by the monitoring computer, moves to a specified position on the guide rail after parsing the instructions, and uses the actuator to repair or replace the damaged part of the structure.

[0011] Preferably, in the above-mentioned space solar power station intelligent health monitoring system, the satellite network includes at least two networked micro-nano satellites that fly around the space solar power station for a long time, at a close distance, and periodically. The micro-nano satellites exchange information and are assigned to monitor areas of the space solar power station, thereby achieving full coverage monitoring of the space solar power station.

[0012] Preferably, in the above-mentioned space solar power station intelligent health monitoring system, the micro-nano satellite is equipped with a visual sensor, and the visual sensor obtains a local digital image of the space solar power station based on a non-contact optical measurement method. The local digital image is preliminarily processed and analyzed by an onboard computer, and then sent to the monitoring computer through a communication antenna. The monitoring computer synthesizes all images, extracts feature points of each image, matches the feature points of each image, and obtains a global image of the space solar power station. The monitoring computer evaluates the health status of the overall structure of the space solar power station based on image feature extraction and the sensor network monitoring, identifies structural damage to the space solar power station, and drives the space robotic arm for maintenance.

[0013] Preferably, in the above-mentioned space solar power station intelligent health monitoring system, the sensor network includes a plurality of miniaturized health monitoring devices, which are mounted on the support beam and monitor the deformation of the inflatable tempered rod and the looseness of the connection.

[0014] Preferably, in the above-mentioned space solar power station intelligent health monitoring system, the miniaturized health monitoring device includes a base box, a dynamic stiffness measurement main board and an impedance measurement main board placed inside the base box, and a top cover covering the top of the base box, the dynamic stiffness measurement main board and the impedance measurement main board contain microprocessors, which calculate the dynamic stiffness and electrical impedance respectively, and transmit the data to the monitoring computer.

[0015] Preferably, in the above-mentioned space solar power station intelligent health monitoring system, the dynamic stiffness measurement mainboard outputs two excitation signals applied to two piezoelectric drivers, and the two piezoelectric drivers are respectively installed on two different inflatable tempered rods. Each inflatable tempered rod is also installed with 1-3 piezoelectric sensors. The response signal generated by the piezoelectric sensor is connected to the dynamic stiffness measurement mainboard and collected, and the dynamic stiffness data of the inflatable tempered rod is obtained after calculation by the internal microprocessor.

[0016] Preferably, in the above-mentioned space solar power station intelligent health monitoring system, each bolt at the connection of the solar cell array is respectively installed with a piezoelectric active excitation sensor, and the impedance measurement mainboard monitors the looseness of each bolt connection part, and the impedance measurement mainboard sequentially outputs a plurality of channels of sweep frequency signals applied to each of the piezoelectric active excitation sensors, collects the response signals, and obtains the electrical impedance data of the piezoelectric active excitation sensor after calculation by the internal microprocessor.

[0017] Preferably, in the above-mentioned space solar power station intelligent health monitoring system, the monitoring computer compares the dynamic stiffness and electrical impedance data with the health status data stored in itself, and determines the deformation degree of the inflatable tempered rod and the looseness of the connection by calculating the damage index.

[0018] Compared with the prior art, the advantage of the technical solution of the present invention is that the system monitors the health status of the overall structure and key parts of the space solar power station based on the satellite network and the sensor network. The satellite network is composed of micro-nano satellite networking. The micro-nano satellite uses a visual sensor to obtain a local digital image of the space solar power station, which is sent to the monitoring computer for synthesis after being pre-processed by the onboard computer. The sensor network is composed of a miniaturized health monitoring device installed on the solar cell array support beam. The device monitors the deformation of the inflatable tempered rod by measuring the dynamic stiffness and the looseness of the bolt connection by measuring the electrical impedance. The dynamic stiffness and electrical impedance data are acquired and sent to the monitoring computer by the device. The monitoring computer receives the structural status information, evaluates the health status of the overall structure and key parts of the power station after being processed by the damage diagnosis algorithm, and enables the space manipulator to move to the damaged position for inspection or replacement. The intelligent health monitoring system proposed by the present invention uses a satellite network and a sensor network to collaboratively monitor the space solar power station. It can not only monitor the health status of the overall structure and key parts of the power station, and formulate and execute maintenance decisions, but also significantly reduce the additional mass generated by the monitoring system to the structure itself, and is suitable for various space ultra-large-size flexible structures. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0019] In order to more clearly illustrate the embodiments of the present application or the technical solutions in the prior art, the drawings required for use in the embodiments or the description of the prior art will be briefly introduced below. Obviously, the drawings described below are only some embodiments recorded in the present application. For ordinary technicians in this field, other drawings can be obtained based on these drawings without paying creative work.

[0020] Figure 1 Shown is a schematic diagram of a space solar power station in a specific embodiment of the present invention;

[0021] Figure 2 Shown is a schematic diagram of a solar cell array in a specific embodiment of the present invention;

[0022] Figure 3 Shown is a schematic diagram of an intelligent health monitoring system for a space solar power station in a specific embodiment of the present invention;

[0023] Figure 4 Shown is a schematic diagram of a satellite network in a specific embodiment of the present invention;

[0024] Figure 5Shown is a schematic diagram of a micro-nano satellite in a specific embodiment of the present invention;

[0025] Figure 6 Shown is a schematic diagram of a miniaturized health monitoring device in a specific embodiment of the present invention;

[0026] Figure 7 Shown is a flow chart of monitoring computer execution functions in a specific embodiment of the present invention;

[0027] Figure 8 Shown is a schematic diagram of a space robot arm in a specific embodiment of the present invention. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0028] The following will describe the technical solutions in the embodiments of the present invention in detail in conjunction with the drawings in the embodiments of the present invention. Obviously, the described embodiments are only part of the embodiments of the present invention, not all of the embodiments. Based on the embodiments of the present invention, all other embodiments obtained by ordinary technicians in this field without creative work are within the scope of protection of the present invention.

[0029] In the description of the present invention, it should be noted that the terms "center", "upper", "lower", "left", "right", "vertical", "horizontal", "inner", "outer", etc., indicating the orientation or positional relationship, are based on the orientation or positional relationship shown in the drawings, and are only for the convenience of describing the present invention and simplifying the description, rather than indicating or implying that the device or element referred to must have a specific orientation, be constructed and operated in a specific orientation, and therefore cannot be understood as limiting the present invention. In addition, the terms "first", "second", and "third" are used for descriptive purposes only, and cannot be understood as indicating or implying relative importance.

[0030] In the description of the present invention, it should be noted that, unless otherwise clearly specified and limited, the terms "installed", "connected", and "connected" should be understood in a broad sense, for example, it can be a fixed connection, a detachable connection, or an integral connection; it can be a mechanical connection or an electrical connection; it can be a direct connection, or it can be indirectly connected through an intermediate medium, or it can be the internal communication of two components. For ordinary technicians in this field, the specific meanings of the above terms in the present invention can be understood according to specific circumstances.

[0031] Combination Figure 1-8 As shown, the specific implementation is carried out according to the following process:

[0032] Step 1, the space solar power station 11 is composed of a solar cell array 1, an energy conversion device 2, an energy transmitting device 3 and a monitoring computer 4. The solar cell array 1 is used to collect solar energy and convert it into electrical energy. The energy conversion device 2 converts electrical energy into microwaves or lasers and transmits it to the ground through the energy transmitting device 3. The monitoring computer 4 is the core of the space solar power station 11 and is responsible for controlling the operation of the intelligent health monitoring system of the space solar power station. Among them, the solar cell array 1 is composed of a sail membrane 5, an inflatable tempered rod 6, a support beam 7, a guide rail 8 and a space manipulator 9. The sail membrane 5 can be expanded and retracted by inflating and deflating the inflatable tempered rod 6. The guide rail 8 and the inflatable tempered rod 6 are both fixed to the support beam 7 by bolts. The space manipulator 9 moves on the guide rail 8 and is responsible for performing the inspection and replacement of the damaged parts of the structure.

[0033] Step 2: The intelligent health monitoring system of the space solar power station includes a satellite network 10 and a sensor network 12, and its control core is a monitoring computer 4 located on the space solar power station 11. Among them, the satellite network 10 collaboratively monitors the overall structure of the space solar power station 11, and the sensor network 12 is distributed and integrated in the space solar power station 11 to monitor the key parts of the space solar power station 11. The satellite network 10 is composed of two or more micro-nano satellites 14 that fly around the space solar power station 11 for a long time, at a close distance, and periodically. The micro-nano satellites 14 can exchange information and allocate monitoring areas to achieve full coverage monitoring of the space solar power station 11. The sensor network 12 is composed of a plurality of miniaturized health monitoring devices 13, which are assembled on the support beam 7 of the solar cell array 1 by bolt connection, and are responsible for monitoring the deformation of the inflatable tempered rod 6 and the loosening of the bolt connection part.

[0034] Step 3: Each micro-nano satellite 14 is equipped with a visual sensor 17. The visual sensor 17 obtains a local digital image of the space solar power station 11 based on a non-contact optical measurement method. The local digital image is preliminarily processed and analyzed by the onboard computer 16 and then sent to the monitoring computer 4 via the communication antenna 15.

[0035] Step 4: The miniaturized health monitoring device 13 includes a top cover 18, a dynamic stiffness measurement mainboard 19, an impedance measurement mainboard 20 and a bottom box 21, and an interface is reserved on the bottom box 21 for lead wires. The dynamic stiffness measurement mainboard 19 and the impedance measurement mainboard 20 both contain a microprocessor, which is responsible for calculating the dynamic stiffness and electrical impedance, and transmitting the data to the monitoring computer 4.

[0036] Step 5. The miniaturized health monitoring device 13 can be used to monitor the deformation of the two inflatable tempered rods 6. The specific process is: the dynamic stiffness measurement mainboard 19 outputs two excitation signals and applies them to two piezoelectric drivers. The two piezoelectric drivers are respectively installed on the two inflatable tempered rods 6. Each inflatable tempered rod 6 can also be installed with 1 to 3 piezoelectric sensors. The response signal generated by the piezoelectric sensor is connected to the dynamic stiffness measurement mainboard 19 and collected. The dynamic stiffness data of the inflatable tempered rod is obtained after calculation by the internal microprocessor.

[0037] Step six, the miniaturized health monitoring device 13 can be used to monitor the looseness of the six bolt connection parts. The specific process is: install the piezoelectric active excitation sensor on the bolt, the impedance measurement mainboard 20 outputs the sweep frequency signals of six channels in turn and applies them to the six piezoelectric active excitation sensors, collects the response signals, and obtains the electrical impedance data of the piezoelectric active excitation sensor after calculation by the internal microprocessor.

[0038] Step 7: The monitoring computer 4 receives the structural status information of the space solar power station sent by the micro-nano satellite 14 and the miniaturized health monitoring device 13, identifies the structural damage on the space solar power station through the diagnostic algorithm processing, makes maintenance decisions, and drives the space robot arm 9 to execute the decisions.

[0039] Step 8: The monitoring computer 4 processes the local digital images of the space solar power station 11 sent by the satellite network 10, such as image correction and filtering, and synthesizes all the images, extracts the feature points of each image, and matches the feature points of each image, thereby obtaining a global image of the space solar power station 11. Furthermore, the monitoring computer 4 evaluates the health status of the overall structure of the space solar power station 11 based on the image feature extraction and the structural health monitoring method based on vibration information.

[0040] Step nine: the monitoring computer 4 compares the dynamic stiffness data and electrical impedance data transmitted by the miniaturized health monitoring device 13 with the health status data stored in the computer 4, and determines the deformation degree of the inflatable tempered rod 6 and the looseness of the bolt connection by calculating the damage index.

[0041] Step 10: The space robot arm 9 includes a controller 22 and an actuator 23. The controller 22 receives the task instructions issued by the monitoring computer, moves to the specified position on the guide rail 8 after parsing the instructions, and uses the actuator 23 to repair or replace the damaged part of the structure.

[0042] It should be noted that, in this article, relational terms such as first and second, etc. are only used to distinguish one entity or operation from another entity or operation, and do not necessarily require or imply any such actual relationship or order between these entities or operations. Moreover, the terms "include", "comprise" or any other variants thereof are intended to cover non-exclusive inclusion, so that a process, method, article or device including a series of elements includes not only those elements, but also other elements not explicitly listed, or also includes elements inherent to such process, method, article or device. In the absence of further restrictions, the elements defined by the sentence "comprise a ..." do not exclude the existence of other identical elements in the process, method, article or device including the elements.

[0043] The above is only a specific implementation of the present application. It should be pointed out that for ordinary technicians in this technical field, several improvements and modifications can be made without departing from the principles of the present application. These improvements and modifications should also be regarded as the scope of protection of the present application.

Claims

1. An intelligent health monitoring system for a space solar power station, characterized in that: The invention comprises a satellite network and a sensor network, wherein the satellite network monitors the overall structure of a space solar power station, the sensor network monitors the key parts of the space solar power station, the space solar power station comprises a solar cell array, an energy conversion device, an energy transmitting device and a monitoring computer, the solar cell array collects solar energy and converts it into electrical energy, the energy conversion device converts the converted electrical energy into microwaves or lasers, and transmits the converted electrical energy to the ground through the energy transmitting device, the monitoring computer controls the operation of an intelligent health monitoring system of a space solar power station, the solar cell array comprises a support beam, a guide rail installed on the support beam, an inflatable tempered rod, a space manipulator sliding on the guide rail, and a sail membrane that is expanded and retracted by inflating and deflation of the inflatable tempered rod, the space manipulator comprises a controller and an actuator, the controller receives a task instruction issued by the monitoring computer, moves to a specified position on the guide rail after parsing the instruction, and uses the actuator to repair or replace a damaged part of the structure, the satellite network comprises at least two networked satellites surrounding the space solar power station. The invention relates to a micro-nano satellite that flies together at a certain time, at a close distance and periodically. The micro-nano satellites exchange information with each other and allocate areas for monitoring the space solar power station to achieve full coverage monitoring of the space solar power station. The micro-nano satellite is equipped with a visual sensor. The visual sensor obtains a local digital image of the space solar power station based on a non-contact optical measurement method. The local digital image is preliminarily processed and analyzed by an onboard computer and then sent to the monitoring computer through a communication antenna. The monitoring computer synthesizes all images, extracts feature points of each image, matches the feature points of each image, and obtains a global image of the space solar power station. The monitoring computer evaluates the health status of the overall structure of the space solar power station based on image feature extraction and the sensor network monitoring, identifies structural damage to the space solar power station, and drives the space robotic arm for maintenance. The sensor network includes a plurality of miniaturized health monitoring devices, which are mounted on the support beam and monitor the deformation of the inflatable tempered rod and the looseness of the connection.

2. The space solar power station intelligent health monitoring system according to claim 1 is characterized in that: The miniaturized health monitoring device includes a base box, a dynamic stiffness measurement mainboard and an impedance measurement mainboard placed inside the base box, and a top cover covering the top of the base box. The dynamic stiffness measurement mainboard and the impedance measurement mainboard contain microprocessors, which calculate the dynamic stiffness and electrical impedance respectively and transmit the data to the monitoring computer.

3. The space solar power station intelligent health monitoring system according to claim 2 is characterized in that: The dynamic stiffness measurement mainboard outputs two excitation signals which are applied to two piezoelectric drivers. The two piezoelectric drivers are respectively installed on two different inflatable tempered glass rods. Each inflatable tempered glass rod is also installed with 1-3 piezoelectric sensors. The response signals generated by the piezoelectric sensors are connected to the dynamic stiffness measurement mainboard and collected. The dynamic stiffness data of the inflatable tempered glass rod is obtained after calculation by the internal microprocessor.

4. The space solar power station intelligent health monitoring system according to claim 2, characterized in that: Each bolt at the connection of the solar cell array is respectively installed with a piezoelectric active excitation sensor. The impedance measurement mainboard monitors the looseness of each bolt connection part. The impedance measurement mainboard sequentially outputs a plurality of channel sweep frequency signals and applies them to each of the piezoelectric active excitation sensors, collects the response signals, and obtains the electrical impedance data of the piezoelectric active excitation sensor after calculation by the internal microprocessor.

5. The space solar power station intelligent health monitoring system according to claim 2, characterized in that: The monitoring computer compares the dynamic stiffness and electrical impedance data with the health status data stored in the computer, and determines the deformation degree of the inflatable tempered rod and the looseness of the connection by calculating the damage index.

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