Inflatable antenna device and unfolding method thereof

Abstract

The invention provides an inflatable antenna device and an unfolding method thereof, the inflatable antenna device comprises a supporting plate, the center of the supporting plate is provided with a base, the base is provided with a spherical antenna, and the spherical antenna is communicated with an air source; the surface of the spherical antenna is equally divided into three areas, a group of bulges are distributed in each area, each group of bulges is uniformly divided into three sub-groups along the longitude direction of the spherical antenna, and a plurality of bulges of each sub-group are uniformly distributed along the latitude direction of the spherical antenna; three stand columns are evenly distributed around the base, visual cameras and mechanical arms are arranged on the stand columns, and grabbing mechanisms are arranged at the tail ends of the mechanical arms. The projection is arranged on the outer surface of the spherical antenna, the visual camera is used for assisting the mechanical arm to drive the grabbing mechanism to clamp the projection and drive the projection to move, so that the unfolding process of the spherical antenna is assisted, the spherical antenna can be automatically unfolded, manpower is greatly saved, and meanwhile, compared with a traditional rope traction unfolding mode, the unfolding efficiency of the spherical antenna is greatly improved. And the unfolding precision is higher.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present application relates to the technical field of inflatable antennas, and in particular to an inflatable antenna device and a deployment method thereof. Background Art

[0002] Inflatable antennas have become a research hotspot in the field of antennas due to their light weight, low cost, and the ability to be repeatedly folded, unfolded, and deployed quickly. The existing spherical inflatable antennas deployed on the ground have a simple structure and a relatively small caliber, and the deployment and unfolding process mainly relies on a manually operated inflation mechanism. However, with the growing demand for rapid response and high-precision transmission in the field of modern military communications, the demand for inflatable antenna systems with larger calibers and the ability to be automatically deployed is becoming more urgent. Summary of the invention

[0003] The purpose of the present application is to provide an inflatable antenna device and a deployment method thereof in view of the above problems.

[0004] In a first aspect, the present application provides an inflatable antenna device, comprising: A support plate, wherein a base is provided at the center of the support plate, and three columns are evenly distributed around the base on the support plate, and visual cameras are provided on the columns; A spherical antenna, the spherical antenna is arranged on the base and connected to an air source; the surface of the spherical antenna is equally divided into three areas, each of the areas is distributed with a group of protrusions, each group of the protrusions is evenly divided into three subgroups along the meridian direction of the spherical antenna, the multiple protrusions in each subgroup are evenly distributed along the latitude direction of the spherical antenna, the three groups of protrusions are distinguished by different colors, and the multiple protrusions in each group are distinguished by different marks; A robotic arm is arranged on the column, and a grasping mechanism is arranged at the end of the robotic arm. The grasping mechanism can identify the protrusion through the visual camera and clamp the protrusion under the drive of the robotic arm to drive the protrusion to move, thereby assisting the inflation and deployment of the spherical antenna.

[0005] According to the technical solution provided in certain embodiments of the present application, the gripping mechanism includes a clamping base, which is arranged at the end of the robotic arm and has three clamping claws rotatably connected thereto. The clamping claw has a clamping end, and a torsion spring is provided between the clamping claw and the clamping base. An electromagnet is also provided in the clamping base. The three clamping ends can approach each other under the action of the torsion spring and can also move away from each other under the action of the magnetic force of the electromagnet.

[0006] According to the technical solution provided in some embodiments of the present application, a support column is provided on the column, a limiting plate is fixed to the free end of the support column, and the limiting plate is used to support and limit the spherical antenna after the spherical antenna is inflated and expanded.

[0007] In a second aspect, the present application provides an inflatable antenna deployment method, using an inflatable antenna deployment device as described above, comprising: Acquire first images respectively captured by the three visual cameras, wherein the first images are images of the spherical antenna in an uninflated state; Acquire the first target protrusions corresponding to the respective mechanical arms according to the three first images, and acquire the position coordinates of the respective first target protrusions; wherein the first target protrusions corresponding to the respective mechanical arms are respectively located in different areas; Driving the grasping mechanism corresponding to each of the mechanical arms to grasp the corresponding first target protrusion, and moving the first target protrusion to its corresponding preset position; the preset position is the position of each of the protrusions when the spherical antenna is in a fully unfolded state; The spherical antenna is inflated, and second images respectively captured by the three visual cameras are obtained at preset time intervals; one protrusion in the first subgroup, the second subgroup and the third subgroup is respectively used as the second target protrusion; if the second target protrusion corresponding to each robotic arm is obtained according to the second image, inflation is suspended, and the grasping mechanism corresponding to each robotic arm is driven to switch to grasp the corresponding second target protrusion and move it to its corresponding preset position, and then inflation is resumed until the spherical antenna is fully deployed; the first subgroup is the subgroup at the lowest position in each of the areas, the second subgroup is the subgroup at the middle position in each of the areas, and the third subgroup is the subgroup at the highest position in each of the areas.

[0008] According to the technical solution provided in some embodiments of the present application, the step of acquiring the first target protrusion corresponding to each of the robotic arms according to the three first images includes: Sorting the three first images according to the number of groups of the protrusions contained in them from small to large; Selecting a group of the protrusions in sequence according to the above order as the corresponding target group of the robot arm; A protrusion in the target group whose preset position is at the lowest position in the area is selected as the first target protrusion.

[0009] According to the technical solution provided by some embodiments of the present application, if the second target protrusion corresponding to each of the mechanical arms is obtained according to the second image, the inflation is suspended, and the grasping mechanism corresponding to each of the mechanical arms is driven to switch to grasp the corresponding second target protrusion and move it to the corresponding preset position, and then the inflation is resumed until the spherical antenna is fully deployed, including: Detecting whether the three second images all have protrusions of the first subgroup; If yes, then the inflation is suspended, and one protrusion of each of the first subgroups is selected as the second target protrusion corresponding to each of the mechanical arms, and the grasping mechanism corresponding to each of the mechanical arms is driven to switch and grasp the corresponding second target protrusion and move it to the corresponding preset position, and then the inflation is resumed; if no, the spherical antenna is continuously inflated until at least one protrusion of the first subgroup is present in each of the three second images; Detecting whether the three second images all have protrusions of the second subgroup; If yes, then the inflation is suspended, and one protrusion of each second subgroup is selected as the second target protrusion corresponding to each mechanical arm, and the grasping mechanism corresponding to each mechanical arm is driven to switch and grasp the corresponding second target protrusion and move it to the corresponding preset position, and then the inflation is resumed; if no, the spherical antenna is continuously inflated until there is at least one protrusion of the second subgroup in each of the three second images; Detecting whether the three second images all have protrusions of the third subgroup; If yes, then inflation is paused, and one protrusion of each of the third subgroups is selected as the second target protrusion corresponding to each of the robotic arms, and the grasping mechanism corresponding to each of the robotic arms is driven to switch and grasp the corresponding second target protrusion and move it to the corresponding preset position before resuming inflation; if no, the spherical antenna is continued to be inflated until there is at least one protrusion of the third subgroup in each of the three second images.

[0010] According to the technical solutions provided in some embodiments of the present application, the step of obtaining the position coordinates of each of the first target protrusions includes: According to the positional relationship between the visual camera and the robotic arm base, and the structural parameters of the robotic arm, an associated visual camera coordinate system and a robotic arm end coordinate system are constructed; Obtaining the position coordinates of the first target protrusion in the visual camera coordinate system by using stereo vision technology and a centroid calculation algorithm; The position coordinates of the first target protrusion in the visual camera coordinate system are converted to the robot arm end coordinate system through coordinate transformation to obtain the position coordinates of the first target protrusion in the robot arm end coordinate system.

[0011] According to the technical solutions provided in some embodiments of the present application, the step of driving the grasping mechanism corresponding to each of the mechanical arms to grasp the corresponding first target protrusion and move the first target protrusion to its corresponding preset position includes: Planning a first motion trajectory of the end of the robotic arm according to the position coordinates of the first target protrusion and the position coordinates of the end of the robotic arm; Driving the grasping mechanism to move along the first motion trajectory to the first target protrusion; Starting the grasping mechanism to grasp the first target protrusion; Planning a second motion trajectory of the end of the robotic arm according to the position coordinates of the preset position corresponding to the first target protrusion and the position coordinates of the end of the robotic arm; The grabbing mechanism is driven to move along the second motion trajectory to the preset position corresponding to the first target protrusion.

[0012] Compared with the prior art, the present application has the following beneficial effects: the present application provides an inflatable antenna device and a method for deploying the same, the inflatable antenna device comprising a support plate, a base being provided at the center of the support plate, three uprights being evenly distributed around the base on the support plate, and visual cameras being provided on the uprights; a spherical antenna being provided on the base, and the spherical antenna being connected to an air source; the surface of the spherical antenna being equally divided into three regions, each region being provided with a group of protrusions, each group of protrusions being evenly divided into three sub-groups along the meridian direction of the spherical antenna, a plurality of protrusions in each sub-group being evenly distributed along the latitude direction of the spherical antenna, and the three groups of protrusions being distinguished by different colors , the multiple protrusions in each group are distinguished by different marks; a robotic arm is provided on the column, and a grasping mechanism is provided at the end of the robotic arm. The grasping mechanism can identify the protrusion through a visual camera, and clamp the protrusion under the drive of the robotic arm to drive the protrusion to move; by arranging protrusions on the outer surface of the spherical antenna, using a visual camera to assist the robotic arm to drive the grasping mechanism to clamp the protrusion and drive the protrusion to move, so as to assist the deployment process of the spherical antenna, so that the spherical antenna can be automatically deployed, which greatly saves manpower. At the same time, compared with the traditional method of using rope traction to deploy, it has higher deployment accuracy.

[0013] It should be understood that the description of technical features, technical solutions, beneficial effects or similar language in this application does not imply that all features and advantages can be realized in any single embodiment. On the contrary, it is understood that the description of features or beneficial effects means that specific technical features, technical solutions or beneficial effects are included in at least one embodiment. Therefore, the description of technical features, technical solutions or beneficial effects in this specification does not necessarily refer to the same embodiment. Furthermore, the technical features, technical solutions and beneficial effects described in the present embodiment can also be combined in any appropriate manner. Those skilled in the art will understand that the embodiment can be realized without one or more specific technical features, technical solutions or beneficial effects of a specific embodiment. In other embodiments, additional technical features and beneficial effects can also be identified in a specific embodiment that does not embody all embodiments. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0014] In order to more clearly illustrate the technical solutions in the embodiments of the present invention, the following briefly introduces the drawings required for use in the description of the embodiments. Obviously, the drawings described below are only some embodiments of the present invention. For ordinary technicians in this field, other drawings can be obtained based on these drawings without creative work.

[0015] Figure 1 A schematic structural diagram of an inflatable antenna device provided in Example 1 of the present application; Figure 2 A schematic structural diagram of an inflatable antenna device provided in Example 1 of the present application; Figure 3 A schematic structural diagram of an inflatable antenna device provided in Example 1 of the present application; Figure 4 A schematic flow chart of a method for deploying an inflatable antenna provided in Example 2 of the present application.

[0016] The text annotations in the figure represent: 1. Base; 2. Column; 3. Spherical antenna; 4. Air source; 5. Robotic arm; 6. Grasping mechanism; 7. Limiting plate; 8. Support plate; 9. Side plate; 31. Protrusion; 61. Clamping base; 62. Clamping claw. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0017] In order to enable those skilled in the art to better understand the technical solution of the present application, the technical solution in the embodiments of the present application will be clearly and completely described below in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. The description in this section is only exemplary and explanatory and should not have any limiting effect on the protection scope of the present application. Specifically, the described embodiments are only embodiments of a part of the present application, not all embodiments. Based on the embodiments in the present application, all other embodiments obtained by ordinary technicians in the field without creative work should fall within the scope of protection of the present invention.

[0018] It should be noted that similar reference numerals and letters represent similar items in the following figures, so once an item is defined in one figure, it does not need to be further defined and explained in subsequent figures. In addition, the terms "including" and "having" and any variations thereof are intended to cover non-exclusive inclusions, for example, a process, method, system, product or device that includes a series of steps or units is not necessarily limited to those steps or units clearly listed, but may include other steps or units that are not clearly listed or inherent to these processes, methods, products or devices.

[0019] In order to facilitate the understanding of this application, a brief introduction to the related technology is first given: Inflatable antennas are made of flexible composite film. They are easy to move after being folded and packaged. They form a large spatial structure after being inflated and unfolded, which greatly increases the size of the antenna and reduces the weight of the antenna. The deployment and deployment process of traditional inflatable antennas mostly relies on manual labor. Conventional-sized inflatable antennas often require at least two people to operate, and large-diameter spherical inflatable antennas require more people to assist. This method not only wastes manpower and has low efficiency, but also has poor precision control when the antenna is unfolded. In the antenna attitude adjustment method with a rigid reflective surface, a fixed axis is usually used to drive the antenna to rotate for attitude adjustment. However, since the centrifugal force generated when the spherical inflatable antenna rotates, it will affect the shape of the spherical inflatable antenna, thereby affecting the surface accuracy of the antenna.

[0020] Example 1 As mentioned in the background technology, in view of the problems in the prior art, this embodiment provides an inflatable antenna device, including: A support plate 8, a base 1 is provided at the center of the support plate 8, three columns 2 are evenly distributed around the base 1 on the support plate 8, and a visual camera is provided on the column 2; A spherical antenna 3 is provided on a base 1 and connected to an air source 4; the surface of the spherical antenna 3 is equally divided into three regions, each region is provided with a group of protrusions 31, each group of protrusions 31 is evenly divided into three subgroups along the meridian direction of the spherical antenna 3, a plurality of protrusions 31 in each subgroup are evenly distributed along the latitude direction of the spherical antenna 3, the three groups of protrusions 31 are distinguished by different colors, and a plurality of protrusions 31 in each group are distinguished by different marks; The robotic arm 5 is arranged on the column 2. A grasping mechanism 6 is arranged at the end of the robotic arm 5. The grasping mechanism 6 can identify the protrusion 31 through a visual camera and clamp the protrusion 31 under the drive of the robotic arm 5 to drive the protrusion 31 to move, thereby assisting the spherical antenna 3 to be inflated and deployed.

[0021] like Figure 1 and Figure 2 As shown, the support plate 8 is a rectangular plane structure, and its four sides are rotatably connected with side plates 9 respectively, and two adjacent side plates 9 can be buckled and fixed to each other, and the four side plates 9 and the support plate 8 are together surrounded to form a storage box, which is convenient for storing and transporting the inflatable antenna; a base 1 is provided at the center of the support plate 8, and the base 1 is used to carry the spherical antenna 3. The spherical antenna 3 is connected to an air source 4 for inflation. The air source 4 uses an air pump in the prior art. A feed source is provided on the top of the spherical antenna 3, and three areas are evenly divided around the axis formed by the center of the spherical antenna 3 and the feed source. A group of protrusions 31 are distributed in each area, and each group of protrusions 31 is evenly divided into three sub-groups. The three sub-groups are evenly distributed in the corresponding areas along the meridian direction, and multiple protrusions 31 of one sub-group are evenly distributed along the circumference of the large circle of the spherical antenna 3 parallel to the horizontal direction, and the other two sub-groups are symmetrically arranged on the upper and lower sides of the large circle parallel to the horizontal direction, and are evenly distributed along the circumference of the small circle of the spherical antenna 3 parallel to the horizontal direction.

[0022] Three columns 2 are evenly arranged around the base 1 on the support plate 8, and the three columns 2 correspond to the three areas respectively. The robotic arm 5 is fixed on the columns 2 and is arranged toward one side of the spherical antenna 3. The robotic arm 5 adopts a four-degree-of-freedom robotic arm in the prior art. The end of the robotic arm 5 is connected to a grasping mechanism 6 through a universal joint. The grasping mechanism 6 can clamp the protrusion 31 when driven by the robotic arm 5.

[0023] By setting a protrusion 31 on the outer surface of the spherical antenna 3, using a visual camera to assist the robotic arm 5 to drive the grasping mechanism 6 to clamp the protrusion 31 and drive the protrusion 31 to move, the deployment process of the spherical antenna 3 is assisted, so that the spherical antenna 3 can be automatically deployed, which greatly saves manpower. At the same time, compared with the traditional method of using rope traction to deploy, it has higher deployment accuracy.

[0024] In a preferred embodiment, the gripping mechanism 6 includes a clamping base 61, which is disposed at the end of the robotic arm 5, and has three clamping claws 62 rotatably connected thereto. The clamping claw 62 has a clamping end, and a torsion spring is disposed between the clamping claw 62 and the clamping base 61. An electromagnet is also disposed inside the clamping base 61. The three clamping ends can approach each other under the action of the torsion spring, and can also move away from each other under the action of the magnetic force of the electromagnet.

[0025] like Figure 3 As shown, the clamping base 61 is fixed at the end of the robot arm 5, and its outer periphery is rotatably connected with three clamping claws 62, and the three clamping claws 62 have clamping ends at one end away from the robot arm 5; initially, the electromagnet is not energized, and the three clamping claws 62 make the three clamping ends approach each other under the action of the torsion spring to form a clamping state; when the electromagnet is energized, the three clamping claws 62 at one end close to the robot arm 5 approach each other under the action of the electromagnetic force, and the three clamping ends move away from each other, forming a loose state at this time, and the clamped object can be released.

[0026] In a preferred embodiment, a support column is provided on the column 2, and a limiting plate 7 is fixed to the free end of the support column. The limiting plate 7 is used to support and limit the spherical antenna 3 after the spherical antenna 3 is inflated and unfolded.

[0027] like Figure 1 As shown, the support column is fixed on the column 2, and the three support columns extend together in the horizontal direction toward the vertical axis direction of the spherical antenna 3. A limit plate 7 is fixed to the end of the support column. The contour of the limit plate 7 close to the side of the spherical antenna 3 matches the outer surface contour of the spherical antenna 3 after it is fully unfolded. The three limit plates 7 are used to support and limit the spherical antenna 3 to prevent the spherical antenna 3 from being offset due to wind after it is unfolded.

[0028] Example 2 like Figure 4 As shown, this figure is a schematic flow chart of an inflatable antenna deployment method provided in this embodiment, using an inflatable antenna device described in Example 1, the method includes the following steps: S1, obtaining first images respectively captured by three visual cameras, where the first image is an image of the spherical antenna 3 in an uninflated state; Initially, the spherical antenna 3 is in a deflated state and is placed on the base 1; the visual camera is located on the column 2 and is set opposite the spherical antenna 3. The visual cameras on the three columns 2 respectively capture images of the initial state of the spherical antenna 3 from three directions to obtain three first images.

[0029] S2. Acquire the first target protrusions corresponding to the respective mechanical arms 5 according to the three first images, and acquire the position coordinates of the respective first target protrusions; wherein the first target protrusions corresponding to the respective mechanical arms 5 are respectively located in different areas; First, the first image is preprocessed, and then the protrusions 31 in the first image are identified by feature detection, and the protrusions 31 are distinguished according to the different colors between each group of protrusions 31 and the different marks between each group of protrusions 31. A protrusion 31 in a different area is selected for each robot arm 5 as the first target protrusion, and the position coordinates of the first target protrusion in the visual camera coordinate system are obtained by image recognition technology.

[0030] The step of acquiring the first target protrusion corresponding to each robot arm 5 according to the three first images includes: S21, sorting the three first images according to the number of groups of protrusions 31 contained in them from small to large; In this embodiment, the three groups of protrusions 31 are marked with red, green and blue colors respectively. First, the first image is preprocessed and the color space is converted. The first image is converted from the RGB color space to the HSV color space. The HSV space can better reflect the hue, saturation and brightness information of the color, which is helpful to distinguish the protrusions 31 of the three colors. Then, color detection is used to identify and calculate the protrusions 31 of several colors in each first image, that is, the number of groups of protrusions 31 in each first image, and the three first images are sorted in order from the fewest to the most groups of protrusions 31.

[0031] S22, selecting a group of protrusions 31 in sequence according to the above order as the target group of the corresponding robot arm 5; In the first first image, a group of protrusions 31 are selected as the first target group of the corresponding robotic arm 5, in the second first image, protrusions 31 that are not in the first target group are selected as the second target group of the corresponding robotic arm 5, and in the third first image, the only remaining group of protrusions 31 are selected as the third target group of the corresponding robotic arm 5.

[0032] Since the spherical antenna 3 needs to adjust its posture when in use so that it can transmit or receive signals in different directions, the various areas of the spherical antenna 3 may not be facing the mechanical arms 5 when it is used again. However, since the feed source of the spherical antenna 3 is always on the side away from the base 1 during use, that is, the spherical antenna 3 generally rotates around the vertical axis when adjusting its posture, the above-mentioned position deviation will not be too large; there may be wrinkles on the surface of the spherical antenna 3. Before unfolding, the outer surface of the spherical antenna 3 can be manually arranged to ensure that the exposed and identifiable protrusions 31 are included in the shooting range of the three visual cameras; due to the distribution of the three areas on the spherical antenna 3, when the first image taken by each visual camera contains only one group of protrusions 31, each group of protrusions 31 belongs to a different area on the spherical antenna 3. At this time, The group of protrusions 31 in the first image taken by each visual camera can be selected as the target group of the corresponding robotic arm 5; when the first image taken by each visual camera contains two groups of protrusions 31, there is at most one group of identical protrusions 31 between the three first images, and the first visual camera can select any one group of protrusions 31 in the two groups of protrusions contained in the first image as the target group of the corresponding robotic arm 5, and the second and third visual cameras respectively select protrusions 31 that are different from the previous group as the target group of the corresponding robotic arm 5; at the same time, because there may be folds and wrinkles on the surface of the spherical antenna 3, sometimes the first image will contain three groups of protrusions 31. When there is a difference in the number of groups of protrusions 31 contained in each first image, the target group is selected for each robotic arm 5 in the order of the number of groups of protrusions 31 contained in each first image from small to large.

[0033] S23, selecting a protrusion 31 in the target group whose preset position is at the lowest position in the area as the first target protrusion; Different marks are used to distinguish the multiple protrusions 31 in each group. In the present embodiment, each subgroup includes three protrusions 31, and different symbols or numbers are used to mark the nine protrusions 31 in each group. An image of the spherical antenna 3 fully inflated and deployed with the feed source located directly above is collected by a visual camera as a reference image. The three reference images are respectively taken corresponding to the three groups of protrusions 31. The position of the protrusion 31 in the visual camera coordinate system in the reference image is its preset position. In the selected target group, a protrusion 31 whose preset position is close to the base 1 is selected as the first target protrusion. When there are two or more protrusions 31 in the target group belonging to the same subgroup close to the base 1, a protrusion 31 whose preset position is closest to the visual camera in a straight line distance is selected as the first target protrusion.

[0034] The step of obtaining the position coordinates of each first target protrusion comprises: S24, constructing an associated visual camera coordinate system and a terminal coordinate system of the robotic arm 5 according to the positional relationship between the visual camera and the base of the robotic arm 5 and the structural parameters of the robotic arm 5; Through the positional relationship between the visual camera and the base of the robot 5 on the column 2, the first transformation matrix between the visual camera coordinate system and the base coordinate system of the robot 5 is obtained; through the structural parameters of the robot 5, the second transformation matrix between the base coordinate system of the robot 5 and the end coordinate system of the robot 5 is obtained.

[0035] S25, obtaining the position coordinates of the first target protrusion in the visual camera coordinate system through stereo vision technology and centroid calculation algorithm; The point cloud data of the surface of the first target protrusion is obtained, and the point cloud data is processed by filtering, normal estimation and surface reconstruction to extract the surface information of the first target protrusion. The surface information of the first target protrusion is analyzed and calculated using a centroid calculation algorithm to obtain the position coordinates of the first target protrusion.

[0036] S26. Convert the position coordinates of the first target protrusion in the visual camera coordinate system to the end coordinate system of the robot arm 5 through coordinate transformation to obtain the position coordinates of the first target protrusion in the end coordinate system of the robot arm 5.

[0037] The position coordinates of the first target protrusion in the visual camera coordinate system are converted into the position coordinates of the first target protrusion in the end coordinate system of the robot arm 5 according to the first conversion matrix and the second conversion matrix.

[0038] S3, driving the grasping mechanism corresponding to each mechanical arm 5 to grasp the corresponding first target protrusion, and moving the first target protrusion to its corresponding preset position; the preset position is the position of each protrusion 31 when the spherical antenna 3 is fully deployed; The robotic arm 5 drives the grasping mechanism 6 to move to the position coordinate of the first target protrusion in the coordinate system of the end of the robotic arm 5, starts the grasping mechanism 6 to energize the electromagnet, and the three clamping ends move away from each other to open the grasping mechanism 6. After the power is turned off again, the three clamping claws 62 rotate under the action of the torsion spring, so that the three clamping ends approach each other to clamp the target protrusion. The robotic arm 5 drives the grasping mechanism 6 to move to the preset position corresponding to the first target protrusion again.

[0039] The method of driving the grasping mechanism corresponding to each mechanical arm to grasp the corresponding first target protrusion and move the first target protrusion to its corresponding preset position includes: S31, planning a first motion trajectory of the end of the robotic arm 5 according to the position coordinates of the first target protrusion and the position coordinates of the end of the robotic arm 5; According to the position coordinates of the first target protrusion, the key points at which the grasping mechanism 6 reaches the position coordinates are calculated by a trajectory planning algorithm, thereby obtaining the first motion trajectory.

[0040] S32, driving the grabbing mechanism 6 to move along the first motion trajectory to the first target protrusion; The robot arm 5 drives the grasping mechanism 6 to move along the first motion trajectory to the position coordinates of the first target protrusion.

[0041] S33, starting the grabbing mechanism 6 to grab the first target protrusion; The grasping mechanism 6 is started to energize the electromagnet, and the three clamping ends move away from each other to open the grasping mechanism 6. After the power is turned off again, the three clamping claws 62 rotate under the action of the torsion spring, so that the three clamping ends move closer to each other to clamp the first target protrusion.

[0042] S34, planning a second motion trajectory of the end of the robotic arm 5 according to the position coordinates of the preset position corresponding to the first target protrusion and the position coordinates of the end of the robotic arm 5; According to the position coordinates of the preset position corresponding to the first target protrusion, the key points at which the grasping mechanism 6 reaches the position coordinates are calculated by a trajectory planning algorithm, thereby obtaining the second motion trajectory.

[0043] S35, driving the grabbing mechanism 6 to move along the second motion trajectory to a preset position corresponding to the first target protrusion; The mechanical arm 5 drives the grasping mechanism 6 and drives the first target protrusion to move along the second motion trajectory to the position coordinate of the preset position corresponding to the first target protrusion.

[0044] Since there is no direct fixed relationship between the spherical antenna 3 and the base 1, the relative position of the spherical antenna 3 when placed on the base 1 may be different from the relative position between the spherical antenna 3 and the base 1 in the first reference image. Through the above steps, three grasping mechanisms 6 are used to grasp the target protrusions in the three areas respectively, and the target protrusions are driven to their preset positions by the robotic arm 5. The relative position of the spherical antenna 3 and the base 1 can be preliminarily corrected, so that the three robotic arms 5 and the three areas can be one-to-one corresponding.

[0045] S4, inflate the spherical antenna 3, and obtain the second images respectively collected by the three visual cameras at every preset time period; sequentially use one protrusion 31 in the first subgroup, the second subgroup and the third subgroup as the second target protrusion, if the second target protrusion corresponding to each mechanical arm 5 is obtained according to the second image, then suspend inflation, drive the grasping mechanism 6 corresponding to each mechanical arm 5 to switch to grasp the corresponding second target protrusion and move it to its corresponding preset position, and then resume inflation until the spherical antenna 3 is fully deployed; The air pump is started to inflate the spherical antenna 3, and the visual camera is used to periodically capture images of the spherical antenna 3 during the inflation process, i.e., the second image mentioned above. Since the spherical antenna 3 is gradually unfolded from bottom to top during the inflation process, the subgroups in each area are exposed in the order of the first subgroup, the second subgroup, and the third subgroup. The grasping mechanism 6 is driven to grasp the protrusions 31 in the three subgroups from bottom to top in turn, and the spherical antenna 3 is inflated intermittently at the same time, thereby assisting the spherical antenna 3 in inflation and unfolding.

[0046] If the second target protrusion corresponding to each mechanical arm 5 is obtained according to the second image, the inflation is suspended, and the grasping mechanism 6 corresponding to each mechanical arm 5 is driven to switch to grasp the corresponding second target protrusion and move it to its corresponding preset position, and then the inflation is resumed until the spherical antenna 3 is fully deployed, including: S41, detecting whether all three second images have protrusions 31 of the first subgroup; The spherical antenna 3 is periodically photographed from three directions by three visual cameras to obtain multiple second images. After each photographing, it is detected whether the three second images currently photographed all have the protrusions 31 of the first subgroup. When the protrusions 31 of the first subgroup in different areas are detected in the three second images, the inflation is suspended, and the grasping mechanism 6 is driven to grasp the detected protrusions 31 of the first subgroup and move them to the corresponding preset position, and then the inflation is resumed; if multiple protrusions 31 of the first subgroup are detected in the current second image, the protrusion 31 with the shortest straight-line distance to the column 2 is selected for grasping, and if the protrusions 31 of the first subgroup are not detected in the current second image, the spherical antenna 3 is continuously inflated until there is at least one protrusion 31 of the first subgroup in each second image.

[0047] S42, detecting whether all three second images have protrusions 31 of the second subgroup; After each robot arm 5 has driven the protrusions 31 of the first subgroup to their corresponding preset positions, inflation is resumed and the three visual cameras continue to periodically shoot the spherical antenna 3 from three directions to obtain multiple second images. After each shooting, it is detected whether the three second images currently shot have protrusions 31 of the second subgroup. When protrusions 31 of the second subgroup in different areas are detected in the three second images, inflation is suspended, and the grasping mechanism 6 is driven to grasp the detected protrusions 31 of the second subgroup and drive it to move to the corresponding preset positions, and then inflation is resumed; if multiple protrusions 31 of the second subgroup are detected in the current second image, the protrusion 31 with the shortest straight-line distance to the column 2 is selected for grasping; if no protrusion 31 of the second subgroup is detected in the current second image, the spherical antenna 3 continues to be inflated until at least one protrusion 31 of the second subgroup is found in each second image.

[0048] S43, detecting whether the three second images all have protrusions 31 of the third subgroup; After each robot arm 5 has driven the protrusions 31 of the second subgroup to their corresponding preset positions, inflation is resumed and the three visual cameras continue to periodically shoot the spherical antenna 3 from three directions to obtain multiple second images. After each shooting, it is detected whether the three second images currently shot have protrusions 31 of the third subgroup. When protrusions 31 of the third subgroup in different areas are detected in the three second images, inflation is suspended, and the grasping mechanism 6 is driven to grasp the detected protrusions 31 of the third subgroup and drive it to the corresponding preset position, and then inflation is resumed; if multiple protrusions 31 of the third subgroup are detected in the current second image, the protrusion 31 with the shortest straight-line distance to the column 2 is selected for grasping; if no protrusion 31 of the third subgroup is detected in the current second image, the spherical antenna 3 is continued to be inflated until at least one protrusion 31 of the third subgroup is present in each second image.

[0049] When the spherical antenna 3 is fully inflated, three visual cameras can be used to collect a third image of the spherical antenna 3 from three directions respectively. By comparing the third image with the reference image, it can be detected whether there is an incompletely inflated part on the surface of the spherical antenna 3. When an incompletely inflated part is detected, the robotic arm 5 can drive the grasping mechanism 6 to grasp the protrusion 31 closest to the incompletely inflated part and move it to its corresponding preset position. At the same time, the air pump can be started to inflate the spherical antenna 3 until the spherical antenna 3 is fully inflated and unfolded.

[0050] When the spherical antenna 3 is in use, the three mechanical arms 5 can also drive the grasping mechanism 6 to grasp the protrusion 31 and drive the protrusion 31 to move synchronously, thereby realizing the control and adjustment of the posture of the spherical antenna 3 to change the direction of the top feed of the spherical antenna 3.

[0051] This article uses specific examples to illustrate the principles and implementation methods of this application. The description of the above embodiments is only used to help understand the method and its core ideas of this application. The above is only the preferred implementation method of this application. It should be pointed out that due to the limitations of textual expression and the objective existence of infinite specific structures, ordinary technicians in this technical field can make several improvements, modifications or changes without departing from the principles of the present invention, and can also combine the above technical features in an appropriate manner; these improvements, modifications, changes or combinations, or the direct application of the inventive concept and technical solution to other occasions without improvement, should be regarded as the scope of protection of this application.

Claims

1. An inflatable antenna device, characterized in that: include: A support plate (8), wherein a base (1) is provided at the center of the support plate (8), three columns (2) are evenly distributed on the support plate (8) around the base (1), and visual cameras are provided on the columns (2); A spherical antenna (3), the spherical antenna (3) being arranged on the base (1) and connected to an air source (4); the surface of the spherical antenna (3) being equally divided into three regions, each region being provided with a group of protrusions (31), each group of protrusions (31) being evenly divided into three subgroups along the longitudinal direction of the spherical antenna (3), the plurality of protrusions (31) in each subgroup being evenly distributed along the latitude direction of the spherical antenna (3), the three groups of protrusions (31) being distinguished by different colors, and the plurality of protrusions (31) in each group being distinguished by different marks; A mechanical arm (5), the mechanical arm (5) being arranged on the column (2), and a gripping mechanism (6) being arranged at the end of the mechanical arm (5), the gripping mechanism (6) being capable of identifying the protrusion (31) through the visual camera, and clamping the protrusion (31) under the drive of the mechanical arm (5), so as to drive the protrusion (31) to move, thereby assisting the inflation and deployment of the spherical antenna (3).

2. The inflatable antenna device according to claim 1, characterized in that: The gripping mechanism (6) comprises a clamping base (61), the clamping base (61) being arranged at the end of the mechanical arm (5), and having three clamping claws (62) rotatably connected thereto, the clamping claws (62) having clamping ends, a torsion spring being arranged between the clamping claws (62) and the clamping base (61), and an electromagnet being arranged inside the clamping base (61), the three clamping ends being able to approach each other under the action of the torsion springs, and being able to move away from each other under the action of the magnetic force of the electromagnet.

3. The inflatable antenna device according to claim 1, characterized in that: A support column is provided on the upright column (2), a limit plate (7) is fixed to the free end of the support column, and the limit plate (7) is used to support and limit the spherical antenna (3) after the spherical antenna (3) is inflated and deployed.

4. A method for deploying an inflatable antenna, characterized in that: An inflatable antenna deployment device according to any one of claims 1 to 3 is adopted, characterized in that it comprises: Acquire first images respectively captured by the three visual cameras, wherein the first images are images of the spherical antenna in an uninflated state; Acquire the first target protrusions corresponding to the respective mechanical arms according to the three first images, and acquire the position coordinates of the respective first target protrusions; wherein the first target protrusions corresponding to the respective mechanical arms are respectively located in different areas; Driving the grasping mechanism corresponding to each of the mechanical arms to grasp the corresponding first target protrusion, and moving the first target protrusion to its corresponding preset position; the preset position is the position of each of the protrusions when the spherical antenna is in a fully unfolded state; The spherical antenna is inflated, and second images respectively captured by the three visual cameras are obtained at preset time intervals; one protrusion in the first subgroup, the second subgroup and the third subgroup is respectively used as the second target protrusion; if the second target protrusion corresponding to each robotic arm is obtained according to the second image, inflation is suspended, and the grasping mechanism corresponding to each robotic arm is driven to switch to grasp the corresponding second target protrusion and move it to its corresponding preset position, and then inflation is resumed until the spherical antenna is fully deployed; the first subgroup is the subgroup at the lowest position in each of the areas, the second subgroup is the subgroup at the middle position in each of the areas, and the third subgroup is the subgroup at the highest position in each of the areas.

5. The method for deploying an inflatable antenna according to claim 4, characterized in that: The step of acquiring the first target protrusion corresponding to each of the mechanical arms according to the three first images includes: Sorting the three first images according to the number of groups of the protrusions contained in them from small to large; Selecting a group of the protrusions in sequence according to the above order as the corresponding target group of the robot arm; A protrusion in the target group whose preset position is at the lowest position in the area is selected as the first target protrusion.

6. The method for deploying an inflatable antenna according to claim 4, characterized in that: If the second target protrusion corresponding to each of the mechanical arms is obtained according to the second image, the inflation is suspended, and the grasping mechanism corresponding to each of the mechanical arms is driven to switch and grasp the corresponding second target protrusion and move it to the corresponding preset position, and then the inflation is resumed until the spherical antenna is fully deployed, including: Detecting whether the three second images all have protrusions of the first subgroup; If yes, then the inflation is suspended, and one protrusion of each of the first subgroups is selected as the second target protrusion corresponding to each of the mechanical arms, and the grasping mechanism corresponding to each of the mechanical arms is driven to switch and grasp the corresponding second target protrusion and move it to the corresponding preset position, and then the inflation is resumed; if no, the spherical antenna is continuously inflated until at least one protrusion of the first subgroup is present in each of the three second images; Detecting whether the three second images all have protrusions of the second subgroup; If yes, then the inflation is suspended, and one protrusion of each second subgroup is selected as the second target protrusion corresponding to each mechanical arm, and the grasping mechanism corresponding to each mechanical arm is driven to switch and grasp the corresponding second target protrusion and move it to the corresponding preset position, and then the inflation is resumed; if no, the spherical antenna is continuously inflated until there is at least one protrusion of the second subgroup in each of the three second images; Detecting whether the three second images all have protrusions of the third subgroup; If yes, then inflation is paused, and one protrusion of each of the third subgroups is selected as the second target protrusion corresponding to each of the robotic arms, and the grasping mechanism corresponding to each of the robotic arms is driven to switch and grasp the corresponding second target protrusion and move it to the corresponding preset position before resuming inflation; if no, the spherical antenna is continued to be inflated until there is at least one protrusion of the third subgroup in each of the three second images.

7. The method for deploying an inflatable antenna according to claim 4, characterized in that: The obtaining the position coordinates of each of the first target protrusions includes: According to the positional relationship between the visual camera and the robotic arm base, and the structural parameters of the robotic arm, an associated visual camera coordinate system and a robotic arm end coordinate system are constructed; Obtaining the position coordinates of the first target protrusion in the visual camera coordinate system by using stereo vision technology and a centroid calculation algorithm; The position coordinates of the first target protrusion in the visual camera coordinate system are converted to the robot arm end coordinate system through coordinate transformation to obtain the position coordinates of the first target protrusion in the robot arm end coordinate system.

8. The method for deploying an inflatable antenna according to claim 4, characterized in that: The step of driving the grasping mechanism corresponding to each of the mechanical arms to grasp the corresponding first target protrusion and move the first target protrusion to its corresponding preset position includes: Planning a first motion trajectory of the end of the robotic arm according to the position coordinates of the first target protrusion and the position coordinates of the end of the robotic arm; Driving the grasping mechanism to move along the first motion trajectory to the first target protrusion; Starting the grasping mechanism to grasp the first target protrusion; Planning a second motion trajectory of the end of the robotic arm according to the position coordinates of the preset position corresponding to the first target protrusion and the position coordinates of the end of the robotic arm; The grabbing mechanism is driven to move along the second motion trajectory to the preset position corresponding to the first target protrusion.

Images