Large space antenna on-orbit assembly ground test system and test method

Abstract

The invention discloses a large space antenna on-orbit assembly ground test system and test method. The system comprises an assembling base module, a large space antenna module and an assembling mechanical arm module, the assembling base module comprises a rack fixed to the ground, a hollow rotating platform and a supporting platform, and the hollow rotating platform is used for connecting the rack and the supporting platform; meanwhile, the supporting platform is controlled to rotate to be matched with the assembling mechanical arm module to complete the assembling process, and the supporting platform is used for supporting the large space antenna module; the large space antenna module comprises a plurality of space structure assembly cell elements and passive docking interfaces, and the passive docking interfaces are used for connecting adjacent space structure assembly cell elements; and the assembling mechanical arm module is used for grabbing the space structure assembling cell elements to complete the assembling process. According to the invention, verification of an on-orbit assembly scheme of a large space antenna and docking test of a passive docking interface can be realized, and the system has the characteristics of simple structure, convenient test operation and perfect assembly process.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention belongs to the technical field of on-orbit assembly, and particularly relates to a ground test system and test method for on-orbit assembly of a large space antenna. Background Art

[0002] Affected by rocket thrust, fairing envelope and mechanism complexity, the current single folding and unfolding mechanism is difficult to meet the construction requirements of large-area and large-span space structures required for future deep space exploration, astronomical observation, strategic reconnaissance and other projects. Using the method of modular unit on-orbit assembly to construct large space structures is an effective way recognized internationally to realize the construction of large-size space structures. Since the 1970s, major spacefaring countries have been researching the key technologies for on-orbit assembly of large space structures in space, including the on-orbit assembly of the International Space Station and the truss structure of using modular units to construct ultra-large communication satellite antenna systems.

[0003] However, due to the problems that the currently designed units and docking interfaces have not been universalized and modularized, and the on-orbit assembly cost is very high, the docking stiffness is not high, and the on-orbit assembly efficiency is low, the current on-orbit assembly technology does not yet have the conditions for engineering. Summary of the Invention

[0004] The purpose of the present invention is to provide a ground test system and test method for on-orbit assembly of a large space antenna in order to solve the above-mentioned problems.

[0005] The technical solution adopted by the present invention is as follows: A ground test system for on-orbit assembly of a large space antenna, the system includes: an assembly base module, a large space antenna module, and an assembly robotic arm module;

[0006] The assembly base module includes a frame fixed on the ground, a hollow rotating platform, and a support platform. The hollow rotating platform is fixed on the frame and is used to connect the frame and the support platform, and at the same time control the rotation of the support platform to cooperate with the assembly robotic arm module to complete the assembly process; the support platform is used to support the large space antenna module;

[0007] The large space antenna module includes a number of space structure assembly cells and passive docking interfaces. The space structure assembly cells are frustum-shaped rod structures, and the space structure assembly cells are connected through the passive docking interfaces to form a sphere fitting the equator of the earth as the center line;

[0008] The assembly robotic arm module includes a robotic arm and a robotic arm end, which are used to grab the space structure assembly cells to complete the assembly process.

[0009] In a preferred embodiment, the frame includes aluminum profiles, mounting panels, fixed panels, and suspension panels. The mounting panel is fixed to the top of the aluminum profiles, the fixed panels are fixed to both sides of the aluminum profiles, and the suspension panel is fixed to the back of the aluminum profiles.

[0010] In a preferred embodiment, the central control rotating platform includes a turntable, a servo motor, a controller, and a driver. The turntable is fixed to the mounting panel, the servo motor is arranged on the bottom surface of the turntable, and the driver and the controller are arranged on the suspension panel.

[0011] In a preferred embodiment, the support platform includes a centering block, a support frame, a cushion block, and a U-shaped clamp. The centering block is installed in the concentric shaft holes of the turntable and the support frame, the support frame is connected to the turntable, the cushion block is installed in the cushion block installation groove of the turntable, and the U-shaped clamp is fixed to the cushion block.

[0012] In a preferred embodiment, the number of the space structure assembly units is 24, and each unit includes 12 antenna rods and 8 joints. The joints are provided with antenna rod installation holes and connecting rod installation holes. The antenna rods are installed in the antenna rod installation holes of the joints, and the connecting rods are installed in the connecting rod installation holes of the joints. The antenna rods and the joints form a space structure assembly unit with a frustum of a pyramid structure. Moreover, the intersection points of the axis lines of the antenna rods on the upper surface of the space structure assembly unit fall on a large-radius spherical surface, and the intersection points of the axis lines of the antenna rods on the lower surface of the space structure assembly unit fall on a small-radius spherical surface. The small-radius spherical surface is the antenna working surface.

[0013] In a preferred embodiment, the passive docking interface includes a male port and a female port. The other end of the connecting rod is installed in the connecting rod installation hole of the male port or the female port. The female port includes a female port body, a sleeve, steel balls, a sleeve spring, a gasket, a spring plunger, and a spring base;

[0014] The male port is connected to a space structure assembly unit, the female port is connected to an adjacent space structure assembly unit, and the female port can be locked by the steel balls along the axial direction of the male port for docking.

[0015] In a preferred embodiment, the robotic arm is a 6R robotic arm and is fixed to the robotic arm base. The end of the robotic arm includes two sliding rods, four type-I clamping blocks, four type-II clamping blocks, and four fixtures. The sliding rods are fixedly arranged in parallel on the flange at the end of the robotic arm by the type-I clamping blocks, and the fixtures are fixed to the sliding rods by the type-II clamping blocks;

[0016] The diagonal lines of the slide table mounting holes of the clamping blocks are arranged horizontally and vertically. A rectangular groove is opened at the lower vertex of the slide table mounting hole, U-shaped grooves are left at the left and right vertices of the slide table mounting hole, and a fixture mounting groove is opened at the bottom of the clamping block.

[0017] In a preferred embodiment, the central axis of the large space antenna module coincides with the central axis of the support platform, and the reference plane of the large space antenna module coincides with the reference plane of the frame.

[0018] In a preferred embodiment, a photoelectric switch is installed on the turntable, and a trigger piece is installed on the support platform. The relative positions of the photoelectric switch and the trigger piece meet the position requirements for the coincidence of the reference planes in the theoretical form.

[0019] In summary, due to the adoption of the above technical solutions, the beneficial effects of the present invention are as follows:

[0020] 1. In the present invention, the system realizes the stable support and multi-angle flexible adjustment of the large space antenna module through the dynamic cooperation between the hollow rotating platform of the assembly base module and the support platform, and can accurately simulate the on-orbit assembly environment. The robotic arm module adopts a 6R robotic arm and a customized fixture, combined with the redundant design of the slide bar and the clamping block, effectively solves the positioning error and deformation problems in the grasping process of complex rods, and significantly improves the accuracy and fault tolerance of the assembly operation. The male and female locking mechanisms of the passive docking interface, through the physical cooperation of the steel ball and the sleeve spring, not only simplify the docking process, but also ensure the connection stiffness, greatly reducing the need for manual intervention and providing a reliable technical verification basis for automated assembly in the on-orbit environment.

[0021] 2. In the present invention, through the modular design of the quadrangular pyramid of the space structure assembly cell and fitting the spherical structure with the equator of the earth as the central line, the high-precision geometric matching of the antenna working surface is realized. Its distribution strategy covers multi-dimensional longitude and latitude directions, avoiding structural redundancy at key intersection points, not only optimizing the resource utilization rate, but also reducing the complexity of the overall system. The cooperative calibration mechanism of the photoelectric switch and the trigger piece further ensures the theoretical form consistency of the reference plane and the central axis, enabling the ground test to truly reflect the on-orbit working conditions. This integrated design concept not only significantly shortens the assembly cycle, but also provides an expandable and low-cost solution for the engineering application of large space structures in future deep space exploration and other fields. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0022] Figure 1 It is a schematic structural diagram of the assembly base module;

[0023] Figure 2 It is a schematic structural diagram of the frame;

[0024] Figure 3 It is a schematic structural diagram of the central control rotating platform;

[0025] Figure 4 It is a schematic structural diagram of the support platform;

[0026] Figure 5 Schematic structural diagram of a large space antenna module

[0027] Figure 6 Schematic structural diagram of a space structure assembly unit

[0028] Figure 7 Schematic structural diagram of a passive docking interface

[0029] Figure 8 Schematic structural diagram of a female port

[0030] Figure 9 Schematic structural diagram of an assembly robotic arm module

[0031] Markings in the figure: 1, frame; 2, hollow rotating platform; 3, support platform; 4, space structure assembly cell; 5, passive docking interface; 6, robotic arm; 7, end of the robotic arm; 8, aluminum profile; 9, mounting panel; 10, fixed panel; 11, hanging panel; 12, turntable; 13, servo motor; 14, controller; 15, driver; 16, centering block; 17, support frame; 18, spacer; 19, U-shaped clamp; 20, antenna rod; 21, joint; 22, male port; 23, female port; 24, slide bar; 25, type I clamping block; 26, type II clamping block; 27, fixture; 28, flange at the end of the robotic arm; 29, central axis of the large space antenna module; 30, central axis of the support platform; 31, reference plane of the large space antenna module; 32, reference plane of the frame; 33, optoelectronic switch; 34, main body of the female port; 35, sleeve; 36, steel ball; 37, sleeve spring; 38, gasket; 39, spring plunger; 40, spring base. Specific embodiments

[0032] In order to make the objectives, technical solutions and advantages of the present invention clearer and more understandable, the present invention will be further described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings and embodiments. It should be understood that the specific embodiments described herein are only used to explain the present invention and are not used to limit the present invention.

[0033] Refer to Figures 1-9 ,

[0034] A ground test system and test scheme for on-orbit assembly of a large space antenna, comprising:

[0035] An assembly base module, which includes a frame 1 fixed on the ground, a hollow rotating platform 2 and a support platform 3. The hollow rotating platform is fixed to the frame and is used to connect the frame and the support platform, and at the same time control the rotation of the support platform to cooperate with the assembly robotic arm module to complete the assembly process; the support platform is used to support the large space antenna module;

[0036] Large space antenna module, the large space antenna module includes several space structure assembly cells 4 and passive docking interfaces 5. The space structure assembly cells are frustum-shaped rod structures, and the space structure assembly cells are connected through the passive docking interfaces to form a spherical surface fitting the Earth's equator as the midline;

[0037] Assembly robotic arm module, the assembly robotic arm module includes a robotic arm 6 and a robotic arm end 7, which are used to grasp the space structure assembly cells to complete the assembly process;

[0038] According to a technical solution of the present invention, the assembly base module includes:

[0039] Frame, including aluminum profiles 8, mounting panels 9, fixing panels 10 and hanging panels 11. The mounting panel is fixed at the top of the aluminum profile, the fixing panel is fixed on both sides of the aluminum profile, and the hanging panel is fixed on the back of the aluminum profile;

[0040] Central control rotating platform, including a turntable 12, a servo motor 13, a controller 14, and a driver 15. The turntable is fixed on the mounting panel, the servo motor is arranged at the bottom of the turntable, and the driver and the controller are arranged on the hanging panel;

[0041] Support platform, including a centering block 16, a support frame 17, a spacer block 18 and a U-shaped clamp 19. The centering block is installed in the concentric shaft holes of the turntable and the support frame, the support frame is connected to the turntable, the spacer block is installed in the spacer block installation groove of the turntable, and the U-shaped clamp is fixed on the spacer block;

[0042] According to a technical solution of the present invention, the large space antenna module includes:

[0043] Space structure assembly units, a total of 24, each including 12 antenna rods 20 and 8 joints 21. The joints are provided with antenna rod installation holes and connecting rod installation holes. The antenna rods are installed in the antenna rod installation holes of the joints, and the connecting rods are installed in the connecting rod installation holes of the joints. The antenna rods and the joints form a space structure assembly unit with a frustum structure.

[0044] Passive docking interface, which includes a male port 22 and a female port 23. The other end of the connecting rod is installed in the connecting rod installation hole of the male port or the female port. The female port includes a female port body 34, a sleeve 35, steel balls 36, a sleeve spring 37, a gasket 38, a spring plunger 39 and a spring base 40;

[0045] According to a technical solution of the present invention, the assembly robotic arm module includes:

[0046] Robotic arm, which is a 6R robotic arm and is fixed on the robotic arm base;

[0047] The end of the robotic arm, which includes two sliding rods 24, four type-I clamping blocks 25, four type-II clamping blocks 26 and four fixtures 27. The sliding rods are fixedly parallel to the flange 28 at the end of the robotic arm by type-I clamping blocks, and the fixtures are fixed to the sliding rods by type-II clamping blocks;

[0048] According to a technical solution of the present invention, the central axis 29 of the large space antenna module coincides with the central axis 30 of the support platform, and the reference plane 31 of the large space antenna module coincides with the reference plane 32 of the frame. This form is the theoretical form;

[0049] According to a technical solution of the present invention, the spacer block, U-shaped clamp, support frame and the spacer block installation groove thereon meet the dimensional requirements for the coincidence of the central axes in the theoretical form;

[0050] According to a technical solution of the present invention, a photoelectric switch 33 is installed on the turntable, and a trigger piece 34 is installed on the support platform. The relative positions of the photoelectric switch and the trigger piece meet the position requirements for the coincidence of the reference planes in the theoretical form;

[0051] According to a technical solution of the present invention, taking the equator as the 0th row in the latitude direction and the prime meridian as the 0th row in the longitude direction, the space structure assembly unit covers the 2nd, 1st, 0th, -1st, -2nd rows in the latitude direction and the 2nd, 1st, 0th, -1st, -2nd rows in the precision direction. No space structure assembly unit is arranged at the intersection of the equator and the prime meridian, with a total of 24;

[0052] According to a technical solution of the present invention, the male port of the passive docking mechanism is connected to a space structure assembly unit, and the female port of the passive docking mechanism is connected to the adjacent space structure assembly unit. The female port can be locked by steel balls when docking along the axis direction of the male port, and the pull-down sleeve can be unlocked under the elastic force of the sleeve spring;

[0053] According to a technical solution of the present invention, the specific way for the space structure to fit the spherical surface is that the axis intersection points of the antenna rods on the upper surface of the antenna structure assembly unit fall on the large-radius spherical surface, and the axis intersection points of the antenna rods on the lower surface of the space structure assembly unit fall on the small-radius spherical surface. The small-radius spherical surface is the antenna working surface;

[0054] According to a technical solution of the present invention, one sliding rod fixes two fixtures, and the distance between the middle planes of the two fixtures is the distance between the parallel antenna rod axes on the upper surface of the antenna structure unit;

[0055] According to a technical solution of the present invention, the diagonal lines of the sliding table mounting holes of the clamping block are arranged horizontally and vertically. A rectangular groove is opened at the lower vertex of the sliding table mounting hole to reserve space for the deformation of the sliding table. U-shaped grooves are left at the left and right vertices of the sliding table mounting hole to accommodate the dimensional error of the sliding table. A fixture mounting groove is opened at the bottom of the clamping block to ensure the parallelism of the fixture end face.

[0056] As can be seen from the above: In the present invention, through the dynamic cooperation between the hollow rotating platform of the assembly base module and the support platform, the stable support and multi-angle flexible adjustment of the large space antenna module are realized, and the on-orbit assembly environment can be accurately simulated. The robotic arm module adopts a 6R robotic arm and a customized fixture, combined with the redundant design of the sliding rod and the clamping block, effectively solving the positioning error and deformation problems during the grasping process of complex rods, and significantly improving the accuracy and fault tolerance of the assembly operation. The male-female locking mechanism of the passive docking interface, through the physical cooperation of the steel ball and the sleeve spring, not only simplifies the docking process, but also ensures the connection stiffness, greatly reducing the need for manual intervention and providing a reliable technical verification basis for automated assembly in the on-orbit environment.

[0057] In the present invention, through the frustum modular design of the space structure assembly cell, fitting the spherical structure with the equator of the earth as the midline, the high-precision geometric matching of the antenna working surface is realized. Its distribution strategy covers multi-dimensional longitude and latitude directions, avoiding structural redundancy at key intersection points, not only optimizing the resource utilization rate, but also reducing the complexity of the overall system. The collaborative calibration mechanism of the optoelectronic switch and the trigger piece further ensures the theoretical form consistency of the reference plane and the central axis, enabling the ground test to truly reflect the on-orbit working conditions. This integrated design concept not only significantly shortens the assembly cycle, but also provides an expandable and low-cost solution for the engineering application of large space structures in future deep space exploration and other fields.

[0058] It should be noted that in this article, relational terms such as first and second are only used to distinguish one entity or operation from another entity or operation, and do not necessarily require or imply any actual relationship or order between these entities or operations. Moreover, the term "comprising" or any other variant thereof is intended to cover non-exclusive inclusion, so that a process, method, article or device comprising a series of elements includes not only those elements but also other elements not expressly listed, or elements inherent to such process, method, article or device. Without further limitation, an element defined by the phrase "comprising a..." does not exclude the presence of additional identical elements in the process, method, article or device comprising the element.

[0059] The above embodiments are only used to illustrate the technical solutions of the present invention, not to limit it; although the present invention has been described in detail with reference to the foregoing embodiments, those of ordinary skill in the art should understand that they can still modify the technical solutions recorded in the foregoing embodiments, or perform equivalent replacements for some of the technical features; and these modifications or replacements do not make the essence of the corresponding technical solutions deviate from the spirit and scope of the technical solutions of the embodiments of the present invention.

Claims

1. A large-scale space antenna on-orbit assembly ground test system, characterized by: The system comprises: an assembly base module, a large space antenna module and an assembly robot arm module; The assembly base module comprises a frame (1) fixed on the ground, a hollow rotating platform (2) and a supporting platform (3); the hollow rotating platform is fixed on the frame and is used to connect the frame and the supporting platform, and control the rotation of the supporting platform to cooperate with the assembly robot arm module to complete the assembly process; the supporting platform is used to support the large space antenna module; The large-scale space antenna module comprises a plurality of space structure assembly cells (4) and a passive docking interface (5), wherein the space structure assembly cells are quadrangular pyramid rod structures, and the space structure assembly cells are connected through the passive docking interface to form a spherical surface fitting with the earth's equator as the midline; The assembly robot arm module comprises a robot arm (6) and a robot arm end (7), which are used to grasp the spatial structure assembly cell to complete the assembly process.

2. A large-scale space antenna on-orbit assembly ground test system as claimed in claim 1, characterized in that: The frame comprises an aluminum profile (8), a mounting panel (9), a fixed panel (10) and a hanging panel (11); the mounting panel is fixed to the top of the aluminum profile, the fixed panel is fixed to both sides of the aluminum profile, and the hanging panel is fixed to the back of the aluminum profile.

3. A large-scale space antenna on-orbit assembly ground test system as claimed in claim 1, characterized in that: The central control rotating platform comprises a turntable (12), a servo motor (13), a controller (14), and a driver (15); the turntable is fixed to the mounting panel, the servo motor is arranged on the bottom surface of the turntable, and the driver and the controller are arranged on the hanging panel.

4. A large-scale space antenna on-orbit assembly ground test system as claimed in claim 1, characterized in that: The support platform comprises a centering block (16), a support frame (17), a cushion block (18) and a U-shaped clamp (19); the centering block is installed in the concentric axial hole of the turntable and the support frame, the support frame is connected to the turntable, the cushion block is installed in the cushion block installation groove of the turntable, and the U-shaped clamp is fixed on the cushion block.

5. A large-scale space antenna on-orbit assembly ground test system as claimed in claim 1, characterized in that: The number of the spatial structure assembly units is 24, each of which includes 12 antenna rods (20) and 8 joints (21); the joints are provided with antenna rod mounting holes and connecting rod mounting holes, the antenna rods are mounted in the antenna rod mounting holes of the joints, the connecting rods are mounted in the connecting rod mounting holes of the joints, and the antenna rods and the joints form a spatial structure assembly unit with a quadrangular pyramid structure; and the intersection of the axes of the antenna rods on the upper surface of the spatial structure assembly unit falls on a large-radius spherical surface, and the intersection of the axes of the antenna rods on the lower surface of the spatial structure assembly unit falls on a small-radius spherical surface, and the small-radius spherical surface is the antenna working surface.

6. A large-scale space antenna on-orbit assembly ground test system as claimed in claim 1, characterized in that: The passive docking interface comprises a male port (22) and a female port (23); the other end of the connecting rod is installed in the connecting rod installation hole of the male port or the female port; the female port comprises a female port body (34), a sleeve (35), a steel ball (36), a sleeve spring (37), a gasket (38), a spring plunger (39) and a spring base (40); The male port (22) is connected to a spatial structure assembly unit, and the female port (23) is connected to an adjacent spatial structure assembly unit. The female port (23) is connected along the axial direction of the male port (22) and can be locked by the steel ball.

7. A large-scale space antenna on-orbit assembly ground test system as claimed in claim 1, characterized in that: The mechanical arm is a 6R mechanical arm, which is fixed on a mechanical arm base; the end of the mechanical arm includes two slide bars (24), four type I clamping blocks (25), four type II clamping blocks (26) and four clamps (27), the slide bars are fixed in parallel to the flange plate (28) at the end of the mechanical arm by the type I clamping blocks, and the clamps are fixed to the slide bars by the type II clamping blocks; The slide mounting holes of the clamping block (25) are arranged diagonally horizontally and vertically, a rectangular groove is opened at the lower vertex of the slide mounting hole, U-shaped grooves are left at the left and right vertices of the slide mounting hole, and a clamp mounting groove is opened at the bottom of the clamping block (25).

8. A large-scale space antenna on-orbit assembly ground test system as claimed in claim 1, characterized in that: The central axis (29) of the large space antenna module coincides with the central axis (30) of the support platform, and the reference plane (31) of the large space antenna module coincides with the reference plane (32) of the rack.

9. A large-scale space antenna on-orbit assembly ground test system as claimed in claim 1, characterized in that: The turntable (12) is equipped with a photoelectric switch (33), and the support platform is equipped with a trigger sheet. The relative positions of the photoelectric switch and the trigger sheet meet the position requirements of the reference plane overlap in the theoretical form.

10. A test method for assembling a large space antenna on-orbit on the ground, characterized in that: The test method is conducted using the large space antenna on-orbit assembly ground test system as described in any one of claims 1 to 9.

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