A high-fold ratio snail-inspired space satellite self-photographing device

Abstract

The present invention discloses a high folding ratio snail-like space satellite self-photographing device, which includes a base, a folding linkage rod and a telescopic rod; a telescopic motor and a control circuit are provided on the base; one end of the folding linkage rod is rotatably connected with a flipping mechanism, and the other end of the folding linkage rod is rotatably connected with the telescopic rod; the flipping mechanism is arranged on the base, and the flipping mechanism is used to drive the folding linkage rod to change into a folded state and an extended state. The folded state of the folding linkage rod is used to realize the inward flipping and collection of the telescopic rod, and the extended state of the folding linkage rod is used to realize the outward flipping and unfolding of the telescopic rod; one end of the telescopic rod is rotatably connected with the rotating shaft of the telescopic motor, a camera is arranged at the telescopic end of the telescopic rod, a thin-walled tubular rod is arranged inside the telescopic rod, one end of the thin-walled tubular rod is wound around the rotating shaft of the telescopic motor, and the other end of the thin-walled tubular rod is connected with the telescopic end of the telescopic rod; the control circuit is used to control the telescopic rod to extend.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to the technical field of satellite selfies, and particularly to a high folding ratio snail-like space satellite self-photographing device. Background Art

[0002] With the rapid development of the space industry and the continuous deepening of space exploration, the number of spacecrafts in space has increased sharply. At the same time, the application scenarios of related space spacecraft self-photographing and self-detection devices are in increasingly strong demand, such as satellite structure anomaly detection, construction and maintenance of space stations, care of scientific experiment payloads, planetary surface exploration, satellite self-display and publicity and popular science, etc.

[0003] Currently, there is a method of ejecting a micro camera to monitor the deployment state of solar panels in current space self-photographing devices. However, similar space self-photographing devices and external camera devices still have many defects, such as complex devices, high costs, and low folding ratios.

[0004] Specifically, the most important part of the space self-photographing device is the rod-shaped extension arm that supports the camera module. Currently, the rod-shaped extension arms widely used in the space field are mainly of three forms: sleeve-type space extension arms, articulated space extension arms, and thin-walled tubular space extension arms. Compared with the other two extension arms mentioned above, the thin-walled tubular extension arm has the advantages of simple structure, high reliability, light weight, and high storage rate, but the stiffness of the thin-walled extension arm is small.

[0005] Therefore, developing a solution that takes into account both stiffness and high folding ratio has become an urgent technical problem to be solved. Summary of the Invention

[0006] The purpose of the present invention is to provide a high folding ratio snail-like space satellite self-photographing device to solve the problem that the prior art cannot take into account both stiffness and folding ratio.

[0007] To solve the above technical problems, the present invention provides a high-fold ratio snail-inspired space satellite self-photographing device, including a base, a folding linkage rod, and a telescopic rod; a telescopic motor and a control circuit are provided on the base; one end of the folding linkage rod is rotatably connected to a flipping mechanism, and the other end of the folding linkage rod is rotatably connected to the telescopic rod; the flipping mechanism is provided on the base, and the flipping mechanism is used to drive the folding linkage rod to change into a folded state and an extended state. The folded state of the folding linkage rod is used to realize the inward flipping and collection of the telescopic rod, and the extended state of the folding linkage rod is used to realize the outward flipping and unfolding of the telescopic rod; one end of the telescopic rod is rotatably connected to the rotating shaft of the telescopic motor, a camera is provided at the telescopic end of the telescopic rod, a thin-walled tubular rod is provided inside the telescopic rod, one end of the thin-walled tubular rod is wound around the rotating shaft of the telescopic motor, and the other end of the thin-walled tubular rod is connected to the telescopic end of the telescopic rod; the control circuit is used to control the telescopic rod to extend.

[0008] In one embodiment, the flipping mechanism is a torsion spring, and the torsion spring is installed at the rotational connection of the folding linkage rod. The tightening of the torsion spring is used to control the folding linkage rod to be in a folded state, and the relaxation of the torsion spring is used to control the folding linkage rod to change into an extended state.

[0009] In one embodiment, a fusible resistance wire is provided on the base, and the resistance wire is connected to the telescopic rod. The resistance wire is used to pull the telescopic rod so that the folding linkage rod is maintained in a folded state; the control circuit is electrically connected to the resistance wire, and the control circuit is used to control the resistance wire to heat and fuse. When the resistance wire fuses, the torsion spring is used to self-release and drive the folding linkage rod to change into an extended state.

[0010] In one embodiment, the folding linkage rod includes a first folding rod and a second folding rod. One end of the first folding rod is rotatably connected to the base, and the torsion spring is installed at this end of the first folding rod. The other end of the first folding rod is rotatably connected to one end of the second folding rod, and the other end of the second folding rod is rotatably connected to the telescopic rod.

[0011] In one embodiment, the telescopic rod includes a rotating arm rod and a telescopic arm rod; the rotating arm rod is sleeved outside the rotating shaft of the telescopic motor, and the rotating arm rod is rotatably connected to the rotating shaft of the telescopic motor; the telescopic arm rod is slidably installed on the rotating telescopic arm rod, the camera is provided on the telescopic arm rod, and the sliding of the telescopic arm rod is used to realize the telescoping of the telescopic rod.

[0012] In one embodiment, a positioning mechanism is provided on the base. When the telescopic rod is turned outwards, the positioning mechanism is used to lock the outward turning state of the telescopic rod.

[0013] In one embodiment, the rotating arm rod is provided with a turntable. The surface of the turntable facing the base is provided with positioning holes; the positioning mechanism includes a spring and a bolt. The spring pushes the bolt to elastically abut against the surface of the turntable. When the telescopic rod is turned outwards, the spring is used to push the bolt into the positioning holes.

[0014] The beneficial effects of the present invention are as follows:

[0015] 1. This selfie device adopts two-stage drive, with a simple design and high reliability; a thin-walled tubular rod is used as the main body of the selfie device, which is small in size, light in weight, and has a high folding ratio, solving the problems of complex design, low reliability, low folding ratio, large size, and heavy weight of traditional space extension devices.

[0016] 2. By installing the collapsible thin-walled tubular rod in the rigid telescopic rod, the problem of low stiffness of the thin-walled tubular rod is solved. Combining the advantages of high axial stiffness and high bending stiffness of the thin-walled tubular rod itself, the combined body also has the characteristic of high torsional stiffness.

[0017] 3. The overall module is small in size, light in weight, low in energy consumption, and can achieve the satellite self-detection goal at low cost. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0018] In order to more clearly illustrate the technical solutions of the present invention, the drawings required for the embodiments will be briefly introduced below. Obviously, the drawings in the following description are only some embodiments of the present invention. For those of ordinary skill in the art, other drawings can be obtained based on these drawings without creative efforts.

[0019] Figure 1 is a schematic structural diagram of the storage state provided by the embodiment of the present invention;

[0020] Figure 2 is Figure 1 the schematic structural diagram of the unfolded state;

[0021] Figure 3 is Figure 1 the cross-sectional structural diagram of the telescopic rod in the extended state;

[0022] Figure 4 is Figure 3 the schematic structural diagram of the thin-walled tubular rod;

[0023] Figure 5 is Figure 1 the schematic side view;

[0024] Figure 6 is Figure 1 the disassembly structure schematic diagram of;

[0025] Figure 7 is Figure 2 the disassembly structure schematic diagram of.

[0026] The reference numerals are as follows:

[0027] 10, base;

[0028] 20, folding linkage rod; 21, first folding rod; 22, second folding rod;

[0029] 30, telescopic rod; 31, thin-walled tubular rod; 32, rotating arm rod; 33, telescopic arm rod; 34, turntable; 35, positioning hole;

[0030] 40, rotating shaft;

[0031] 50, camera;

[0032] 60, coil spring;

[0033] 70, resistance wire;

[0034] 80, positioning mechanism; 81, spring; 82, bolt. Specific implementation mode

[0035] Next, the technical solutions in the embodiments of the present invention will be clearly and completely described in conjunction with the accompanying drawings in the embodiments of the present invention.

[0036] The present invention provides a high folding ratio snail-like space satellite self-photographing device, and its embodiments are as Figures 1 to 7 shown, including a base 10, a folding linkage rod 20 and a telescopic rod 30; a telescopic motor and a control circuit are provided on the base 10; a flipping mechanism is rotatably connected to one end of the folding linkage rod 20, and the other end of the folding linkage rod 20 is rotatably connected to the telescopic rod 30; the flipping mechanism is provided on the base 10, and the flipping mechanism is used to drive the folding linkage rod 20 to change into a folded state and an extended state. The folded state of the folding linkage rod 20 is used to realize the inward flipping and collection of the telescopic rod 30, and the extended state of the folding linkage rod 20 is used to realize the outward flipping and unfolding of the telescopic rod 30; one end of the telescopic rod 30 is rotatably connected to the rotating shaft 40 of the telescopic motor, a camera 50 is provided at the telescopic end of the telescopic rod 30, a thin-walled tubular rod 31 is provided inside the telescopic rod 30, one end of the thin-walled tubular rod 31 is wound around the rotating shaft 40 of the telescopic motor, and the other end of the thin-walled tubular rod 31 is connected to the telescopic end of the telescopic rod 30; the control circuit is used to control the telescopic rod 30 to extend.

[0037] When not in use, the high-fold ratio snail-inspired space satellite self-photographing device is in a fully retracted state. For example, the telescopic motor controls the rotation of its rotating shaft 40 so that the thin-walled tubular rod 31 winds around its rotating shaft 40. The thin-walled tubular rod 31 will drive the telescopic rod 30 to become a contracted state accordingly. Then the flipping mechanism controls the folding linkage rod 20 to drive the telescopic rod 30 to rotate counterclockwise, so that the telescopic rod 30 is in a horizontally placed state, and complete contraction can be achieved.

[0038] When it is necessary to be unfolded and used, the flipping mechanism can be used to control the folding linkage rod to drive the telescopic rod 30 to rotate clockwise to the unfolded state. Then the telescopic motor controls the rotation of its rotating shaft 40 so that the thin-walled tubular rod 31 becomes a relaxed state. The thin-walled tubular rod 31 will push the telescopic rod 30 to elongate, thus realizing the change to the extended state; at this time, the camera 50 can be used to take the required photos.

[0039] After adopting the above setting method, it has at least the following advantages:

[0040] 1. This self-photographing device adopts two-stage drive, with simple design and high reliability; using the thin-walled tubular rod 31 as the main body of the self-photographing device, it has a small volume, small mass, and high fold ratio, solving the problems of complex design, low reliability, low fold ratio, large volume, and large mass of traditional space deployment devices.

[0041] 2. By installing the collapsible thin-walled tubular rod 31 in the rigid telescopic rod 30, the problem of low stiffness of the thin-walled tubular rod 31 is solved. Combining the advantages of the high axial stiffness and high bending stiffness of the thin-walled tubular rod 31 itself, the combined body also has the characteristic of high torsional stiffness.

[0042] 3. The overall module has a small volume, small mass, low energy consumption, and can achieve the satellite self-detection goal at low cost.

[0043] As Figure 2 、 Figure 6 and Figure 7 shown, in this embodiment, the flipping mechanism is preferably set as a coil spring 60. The coil spring 60 is installed at the rotating connection of the folding linkage rod 20. The tightening of the coil spring 60 is used to control the folding linkage rod 20 to be in the folded state, and the relaxation of the coil spring 60 is used to control the folding linkage rod 20 to become the extended state.

[0044] After adopting this setting method, the coil spring 60 can be controlled to be in the tightened state by an external force, that is, under the maintenance of the external force, the folded state of the folding linkage rod 20 can be maintained; once the external force is removed, the coil spring 60 will relax due to its own acting force and drive the rotation and extension of the folded linkage rod accordingly, so that the automatic extension control of the folding linkage rod 20 can be realized without adding external force, which is more in line with the use environment without external force input in outer space.

[0045] As Figures 5 to 7 shown, in this embodiment, it is preferably set that a fuseable resistance wire 70 is provided on the base 10. The resistance wire 70 is connected to the telescopic rod 30. The resistance wire 70 is used to pull the telescopic rod 30 so that the folding linkage rod 20 is maintained in a folded state. The control circuit is electrically connected to the resistance wire 70 and is used to control the resistance wire 70 to heat and fuse. When the resistance wire 70 fuses, the coil spring 60 is used to automatically release and drive the folding linkage rod 20 to change to an extended state.

[0046] After adopting this setting method, since the resistance wire 70 is not in a heated state in the default state, the unfused resistance wire 70 can continuously apply a pulling force to the telescopic rod 30, which not only ensures the continuous tightening of the coil spring 60 but also ensures the maintenance of the folded state of the folding linkage rod 20.

[0047] When it is necessary to switch to the extended state, only need to use the control circuit to heat the resistance wire 70, and the resistance wire 70 will be heated and fused. Therefore, after losing the external force, the coil spring 60 will automatically relax and drive the folding linkage rod 20 to extend, thus meeting the usage requirements of automatic extension and change.

[0048] As Figure 2 、 Figure 6 and Figure 7 shown, in this embodiment, it is preferably set that the folding linkage rod 20 includes a first folding rod 21 and a second folding rod 22. One end of the first folding rod 21 is rotatably connected to the base 10, and the coil spring 60 is installed at this end of the first folding rod 21. The other end of the first folding rod 21 is rotatably connected to one end of the second folding rod 22, and the other end of the second folding rod 22 is rotatably connected to the telescopic rod 30.

[0049] After adopting this setting method, the first folding rod 21 and the second folding rod 22 can be rotated to an overlapping state, thereby realizing the folding and storage of the folding linkage rod 20, and the first folding rod 21 and the second folding rod 22 can also be rotated to a linearly arranged state, thereby realizing the extension control of the folding linkage rod 20.

[0050] As Figures 1 to 3 shown, in this embodiment, it is preferably set that the telescopic rod 30 includes a rotating arm rod 32 and a telescopic arm rod 33. The rotating arm rod 32 is sleeved outside the rotating shaft 40 of the telescopic motor, and the rotating arm rod 32 is rotatably connected to the rotating shaft 40 of the telescopic motor. The telescopic arm rod 33 is slidably installed on the telescopic rotating arm rod 32, and a camera 50 is provided on the telescopic arm rod 33. The sliding of the telescopic arm rod 33 is used to realize the telescoping of the telescopic rod 30.

[0051] After adopting this setting method, the rotating arm 32 can be set with a circular hole sleeved outside the rotating shaft 40 of the telescopic motor, so that the rotational connection between the two can be achieved; moreover, a hollow straight groove is provided inside the rotating arm 32 in this embodiment, which facilitates the sliding insertion of the telescopic arm 33, so as to meet the requirements of telescopic control. For example, when the telescopic arm 33 slides outwards, the extension control is realized, and when the telescopic arm 33 slides inwards, the contraction control is realized.

[0052] As Figures 5 to 7 shown, in this embodiment, it is preferably set that the base 10 is provided with a positioning mechanism 80, which is used to lock the outward flipping state of the telescopic rod 30 when the telescopic rod 30 flips outwards.

[0053] After adopting this setting method, the positioning mechanism 80 can be used to ensure that the telescopic rod 30 is always in the best extended state, that is, to ensure that the best shooting operation can be carried out at all times.

[0054] For example, in this embodiment, it is preferably set that the rotating arm 32 is provided with a turntable 34, and the surface of the turntable 34 facing the base 10 is provided with a positioning hole 35; the positioning mechanism 80 includes a spring 81 and a bolt 82. The spring 81 pushes the bolt 82 to elastically abut against the surface of the turntable 34. When the telescopic rod 30 flips outwards, the spring 81 is used to push the bolt 82 into the positioning hole 35.

[0055] That is, when the telescopic rod 30 is not rotated to the specified state, the bolt 82 is located outside the positioning hole 35, so at this time the telescopic rod 30 can continue to rotate. However, once the telescopic rod 30 rotates in place, the bolt 82 will be opposite to the positioning hole 35, so the spring 81 will push the bolt 82 into the positioning hole 35, thereby realizing the positioning and limiting function of the telescopic rod 30.

[0056] To facilitate the understanding of the usage mode of the present invention, the following also provides two specific usage modes:

[0057] Usage Mode 1

[0058] Install the high-fold ratio snail-like space satellite self-photographing device on the outer plate at the top of the microsatellite. When the microsatellite is in orbit and completely despun and oriented towards the earth, the high-fold ratio snail-like space satellite self-photographing device will work. After the folding linkage rod 20 drives the telescopic rod 30 to expand outwards in place, the telescopic motor will drive the thin-walled tubular rod 31 to rotate, and the telescopic rod 30 will extend outwards, deploying the camera 50 to a high place. The camera 50 is turned on, and the earth and the microsatellite will enter the field of view of the micro camera at the same time. The camera 50 records the image of the microsatellite and the earth in the same frame, conducts the self-promotion work of the microsatellite, and can also monitor the overall state of the microsatellite. An LCD display screen can be installed on the top plate of the microsatellite at the same time. The camera 50 takes pictures of the LCD screen and transmits it back, and transmits back the image of the LCD screen to complete the ground-air information interaction.

[0059] Usage Mode 2

[0060] Install the high-fold ratio snail-inspired space satellite self-photographing device at the root of the solar sail. When a suspected space debris impact on the solar sail occurs, the high-fold ratio snail-inspired space satellite self-photographing device will start working. After the folding linkage rod 20 drives the telescopic rod 30 to expand outward in place, the telescopic motor will drive the thin-walled tubular rod 31 to rotate, and the telescopic rod 30 will extend outward to deploy the camera 50 to a high position, and the camera 50 will be turned on. The ground judges whether the solar sail is damaged based on the transmitted images. If it is damaged, the damaged area will be quickly judged.

[0061] The above is the preferred embodiment of the present invention. It should be noted that for those of ordinary skill in the art of the present technology, without departing from the principle of the present invention, several improvements and refinements can still be made, and these improvements and refinements are also regarded as the protection scope of the present invention.

Claims

1. A high folding ratio snail - like space satellite self - shooting device, characterized in that it includes a base, a folding linkage rod and a telescopic rod; a telescopic motor and a control circuit are provided on the base; one end of the folding linkage rod is rotatably connected with a flipping mechanism, and the other end of the folding linkage rod is rotatably connected with the telescopic rod; the flipping mechanism is arranged on the base, and the flipping mechanism is used to drive the folding linkage rod to change into a folded state and an extended state. The folded state of the folding linkage rod is used to realize the inward flipping and collection of the telescopic rod, and the extended state of the folding linkage rod is used to realize the outward flipping and unfolding of the telescopic rod; one end of the telescopic rod is rotatably connected with the rotating shaft of the telescopic motor, a camera is provided at the telescopic end of the telescopic rod, a thin - walled tubular rod is arranged inside the telescopic rod, one end of the thin - walled tubular rod is wound around the rotating shaft of the telescopic motor, and the other end of the thin - walled tubular rod is connected with the telescopic end of the telescopic rod; the control circuit is used to control the telescopic rod to extend; the flipping mechanism is a torsion spring, the torsion spring is installed at the rotating connection of the folding linkage rod, the tightening of the torsion spring is used to control the folding linkage rod to be in the folded state, and the relaxation of the torsion spring is used to control the folding linkage rod to change into the extended state; a fusible resistance wire is provided on the base, the resistance wire is connected with the telescopic rod, and the resistance wire is used to pull the telescopic rod so that the folding linkage rod is maintained in the folded state; the control circuit is electrically connected with the resistance wire, and the control circuit is used to control the resistance wire to heat and fuse. When the resistance wire fuses, the torsion spring is used to self - release and drive the folding linkage rod to change into the extended state; the folding linkage rod includes a first folding rod and a second folding rod. One end of the first folding rod is rotatably connected with the base, the torsion spring is installed at this end of the first folding rod, the other end of the first folding rod is rotatably connected with one end of the second folding rod, and the other end of the second folding rod is rotatably connected with the telescopic rod; the telescopic rod includes a rotating arm rod and a telescopic arm rod.

2. The high folding ratio snail - like space satellite self - shooting device according to claim 1, characterized in that the rotating arm rod is sleeved outside the rotating shaft of the telescopic motor, and the rotating arm rod is rotatably connected with the rotating shaft of the telescopic motor; the telescopic arm rod is slidably installed on the rotating telescopic arm rod, the camera is provided on the telescopic arm rod, and the sliding of the telescopic arm rod is used to realize the telescoping of the telescopic rod.

3. The high-fold ratio snail-inspired space satellite self-photographing device according to claim 2, wherein, a positioning mechanism is provided on the base. When the telescopic rod flips outward, the positioning mechanism is used to lock the outward flipping state of the telescopic rod.

4. The high folding ratio snail - like space satellite self - shooting device according to claim 3, characterized in that the rotating arm rod is provided with a turntable, and a positioning hole is provided on the surface of the turntable facing the base; the positioning mechanism includes a spring and a plug. The spring pushes the plug to elastically abut against the surface of the turntable. When the telescopic rod flips outward, the spring is used to push the plug into the positioning hole.

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