Lunar surface carrier wheel based on multi-source perception and perception and early warning method

Abstract

The application discloses a lunar surface carrying vehicle wheel based on multi-source perception and a perception and early warning method. The lunar surface carrying vehicle wheel comprises a hub, a tire, a buffer layer and a mounting platform. The tire is provided with a first perception unit for perceiving the stress and deformation of the tire. The buffer layer is arranged between the hub and the tire and comprises a plurality of support units arranged at intervals in the circumferential direction, each support unit connecting the hub and the tire. At least part of the support units is provided with a second perception unit for perceiving the stress and deformation of the corresponding support unit. The mounting platform is arranged on one side of the hub and is connected with the hub through a rotary isolation assembly. The mounting platform is provided with a third perception unit for perceiving the lunar surface environment information and the wheel-ground contact information. The lunar surface carrying vehicle wheel of the application has the real-time multi-source perception capability of the structure state and the surrounding ground conditions of the wheel on the premise of maintaining high bearing capacity, compliance and durability.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] This application relates to the field of lunar surface transport equipment technology, and in particular to a lunar surface transport wheel based on multi-source sensing and a sensing and early warning method. Background Technology

[0002] The lunar surface environment is characterized by low gravity, vacuum, strong radiation, large diurnal temperature variations, and high-density dust, placing extremely high demands on the mechanical structure, drive system, and sensing devices of lunar surface-based vehicles. In this environment, the unstructured lunar surface features, such as random undulations and alternating soft and hard surfaces, introduce uncertainties and high-frequency disturbances during wheel-to-ground contact of lunar surface-based vehicles. Furthermore, the high porosity and low viscosity of the lunar regolith make lunar rovers prone to sinking, wheel slippage, and vehicle entrapment.

[0003] In related technologies, lunar rovers primarily rely on their all-domain vision system, lidar, and inertial navigation system for environmental perception. While these systems provide macroscopic environmental terrain information, they cannot directly reflect local pressure distribution, deformation state, wheel-soil coupling changes, and subsidence trends, thus failing to provide sufficient adaptive and self-protective capabilities for the wheels themselves. In actual missions, due to remote control delays and the lack of real-time contact perception systems, ground operators often struggle to promptly determine whether the wheels are entering a dangerous state.

[0004] In addition, traditional planetary wheels generally adopt a symmetrical hub structure and a central mounting scheme, which limits the spatial layout of sensors, motors and wiring inside the wheel. Moreover, they lack independent and fixed sensor carriers that do not rotate with the wheel, making it difficult to place active sensors such as vision and radar in the area closest to the contact surface. In the complex terrain of the lunar surface, this further limits the wheel's local fine perception capabilities.

[0005] Existing lunar surface mobile equipment has limited mobility and flexibility, which cannot meet the needs of adapting to rugged terrain and achieving efficient transportation. It is prone to problems such as slipping, sinking, and overturning, which seriously affects the reliability of the mission. Summary of the Invention

[0006] This application aims to address at least one of the technical problems existing in the prior art. To this end, one objective of this application is to propose a lunar surface transport vehicle based on multi-source sensing, which aims to solve the problem that lunar surface transport vehicles lack in-situ contact sensing and cannot predict the deformation of the outer layer of the vehicle and the trend of surface subsidence.

[0007] This application proposes a lunar surface transport vehicle wheel based on multi-source sensing. The lunar surface transport vehicle wheel includes a hub, a tire, a buffer layer, and a mounting platform. The tire is disposed on the outer periphery of the hub, and a first sensing unit is disposed in the tire for sensing the force and deformation of the tire. The buffer layer is disposed between the hub and the tire, and the buffer layer includes multiple support units spaced apart circumferentially, each support unit connecting the hub and the tire. At least some of the support units are provided with a second sensing unit for sensing the force and deformation of the corresponding support unit. The mounting platform is disposed on one side of the hub, and the mounting platform is connected to the hub through a rotating isolation component. A third sensing unit is disposed on the mounting platform for sensing lunar surface environmental information and wheel-to-ground contact information.

[0008] According to some embodiments of this application, each support unit has at least one support portion that extends spirally from the hub to the tire; the second sensing unit includes a strain gauge that extends along the main deformation direction of the support portion and is disposed in the corresponding support portion.

[0009] According to some embodiments of this application, the stiffness of the support portion varies continuously along the radial direction of the buffer layer; and the stiffness of the support portion on the side closer to the wheel hub is greater than the stiffness of the support portion on the side closer to the tire.

[0010] According to some embodiments of this application, the helix angle of the support portion changes continuously along the extension direction of the support portion, and the radius of curvature of the support portion changes continuously along the extension direction of the support portion.

[0011] According to some embodiments of this application, the tire has a mesh tread, and the mesh tread has multiple optical fiber mounting slots arranged in a cross pattern; the first sensing unit includes multiple optical fibers, and the multiple optical fibers are disposed in the optical fiber mounting slots one-to-one.

[0012] According to some embodiments of this application, a support layer is provided between the buffer layer and the tire, and the support layer connects the tire and the radial outer end of the support unit; the support layer is made of damping material and is provided with flexible metal reinforcing ribs.

[0013] According to some embodiments of this application, the third sensing unit includes a visual sensor, a lidar, and an inertial sensor.

[0014] According to some embodiments of this application, the mounting platform is set off-center about the center of the wheel hub.

[0015] According to some embodiments of this application, the lunar surface carrier wheel also includes a central processing unit, which is connected to a first sensing unit, a second sensing unit, and a third sensing unit. The central processing unit is used to acquire and fuse the sensing data of the first sensing unit, the second sensing unit, and the third sensing unit to perform risk prediction.

[0016] This application also proposes a method for sensing and warning of the aforementioned lunar surface-carrying wheels, comprising the following steps: Collect structural strain data, internal stress data, under-wheel visual data, 3D point cloud data, and inertial data of the wheel; Based on the parametric digital twin model of the wheel structure, mechanical inversion is performed according to the structural strain data and internal stress data to obtain the three-dimensional vector of wheel-soil contact force and the equivalent bearing modulus of lunar soil. By integrating under-wheel visual data and 3D point cloud data, a dynamic field characterizing lunar soil particle migration and topographic changes is generated; The three-dimensional vector of wheel-soil contact force, the equivalent bearing modulus of lunar soil, and the dynamic field are coupled and analyzed to obtain the predicted value of subsidence depth, the slip risk index, and generate early warning instructions.

[0017] The lunar surface carrier wheel based on multi-source sensing according to this application has the following technical advantages compared with the prior art: (1) Realize the real-time deformation perception of the wheel body itself: Through the outer fiber array, a fine deformation map of the tire surface can be obtained, which can be used to identify changes in contact area, local twisting during the slip stage, lunar soil peeling or particle embedding, so that the wheel has the ability to sense itself. (2) Realize monitoring of internal force flow and load changes: The strain gauges embedded in the support unit provide monitoring of the internal force flow channels, which helps to identify whether the wheel is subjected to lateral shear, judge the load shift caused by sinking, and predict the risk of vehicle overturning. At the same time, it has a predictable and safe deformation path. The spiral extension structure of the support part determines that the deformation mode is directional and will not cause random buckling. (3) Capturing micro-topography and sinking trend under the wheel: The visual sensors and lidar mounted on the eccentric cantilever cabin can capture small-scale geometric features in front of the rolling path, observe the sinking depth and wheel embedment in real time, and establish near-field depth map and sinking model. (4) Multimodal fusion improves the ability to predict slippage and vehicle getting stuck: The combination of multiple sensing units can realize the structural-level full-domain perception of the lunar mechanical environment, breaking through the limitations of traditional visual perception systems; the five-level perception fusion can directly and quantitatively perceive the mechanical properties of the lunar soil, providing the most direct physical basis for the passability judgment, greatly reducing the mission risk, and thus significantly improving the safety of the wheels when driving on the lunar surface. (5) Deep coupling of structure and function brings higher reliability: The three-layer heterogeneous structure forms a complementary relationship in mechanics. The outer layer is responsible for compliance, the middle layer is responsible for buffering, and the inner layer is responsible for bearing and integration, so that the overall tire can obtain high impact resistance and fatigue resistance.

[0018] Additional aspects and advantages of this application will be set forth in part in the description which follows, and in part will be obvious from the description, or may be learned by practice of this application. Attached Figure Description

[0019] The above and / or additional aspects and advantages of this application will become apparent and readily understood from the description of the embodiments taken in conjunction with the following drawings, in which: Figure 1 This is a schematic diagram of the structure of a lunar surface transport wheel based on multi-source sensing according to some embodiments of this application; Figure 2 This is an installation diagram of a third sensing unit according to some embodiments of this application; Figure 3 This is a schematic diagram of the cantilever cabin structure according to some embodiments of this application; Figure 4 This is a schematic diagram of the structure of a support unit according to some embodiments of this application; Figure 5 This is a schematic diagram of the installation of strain gauges according to some embodiments of this application; Figure 6 This is a schematic diagram of the structure of a buffer layer according to some embodiments of this application; Figure 7 This is a schematic diagram of the structure of a tire according to some embodiments of this application; Figure 8 This is a schematic diagram of the structure of a fiber optic array according to some embodiments of this application; Figure 9 This is a schematic diagram of the axial structure of a fiber optic array according to some embodiments of this application; Figure 10 This is a schematic diagram of a perception and early warning method according to some embodiments of this application.

[0020] Figure label: Wheel hub 11; Wheel hub motor 12; Cantilever cabin 21; outer cabin 211; vibration isolation layer 212; inner cabin 213; visual sensor 22; lidar 23; inertial sensor 24; Buffer layer 30; Support unit 31; Support part 311; Strain gauge 41; Strain gauge signal receiving module 42; Support layer 50; tire 60; mesh tread 61; fiber optic array 70; central processing unit 80. Detailed Implementation

[0021] The embodiments of this application are described in detail below. Examples of these embodiments are shown in the accompanying drawings, wherein the same or similar reference numerals denote the same or similar elements or elements having the same or similar functions throughout. The embodiments described below with reference to the accompanying drawings are exemplary and are only used to explain this application, and should not be construed as limiting this application.

[0022] The following is for reference.Figures 1-10 This application describes a lunar surface-carrying wheel based on multi-source sensing according to an embodiment of the present application.

[0023] This application proposes a lunar surface transport vehicle wheel based on multi-source sensing. The lunar surface transport vehicle wheel includes a hub 11, a tire 60, a buffer layer 30, and a mounting platform. The tire 60 is disposed on the outer periphery of the hub 11, and a first sensing unit is disposed in the tire 60 for sensing the force and deformation of the tire 60. The buffer layer 30 is disposed between the hub 11 and the tire 60, and the buffer layer 30 includes a plurality of support units 31 arranged circumferentially, each support unit 31 connecting the hub 11 and the tire 60. At least some of the support units 31 are provided with a second sensing unit for sensing the force and deformation of the corresponding support unit 31. The mounting platform is disposed on one side of the hub 11, and the mounting platform is connected to the hub 11 through a rotating isolation component. A third sensing unit is disposed on the mounting platform for sensing lunar surface environmental information and wheel-to-ground contact information.

[0024] In the lunar surface transport vehicle (hereinafter referred to as the vehicle) of this application, the lunar surface transport vehicle has a three-layer heterogeneous structure. Specifically, the inner layer includes a hub 11 and a mounting platform. The hub 11 serves as the basic support and drive for the outer layer structure, and the mounting platform is used to carry the third sensing unit. The third sensing unit can perceive the lunar surface environment information and wheel-to-ground contact information around the vehicle in real time from the vehicle body, and further obtain information such as the vehicle structure morphology, sinking state, and local micro-topography. The mounting platform is connected to the hub 11 through a rotating isolation component. When the hub 11 drives the vehicle to rotate, the mounting platform can remain stationary, thereby ensuring that the setting position and setting angle of the third sensing unit remain stable, so as to achieve real-time and stable perception of the lunar surface environment information and wheel-to-ground contact information around the vehicle during the operation of lunar rovers and other equipment. At the same time, the mounting platform utilizes the space on the side of the vehicle body to install the third sensing unit, which allows the third sensing unit to be set close to the ground surface, and solves the problem of insufficient installation space in the hub 11. The outer layer includes a tire 60, which contacts the lunar surface (wheel-to-ground contact) and is adapted to generate local strain under stress upon contact. A first sensing unit is installed in the tire 60, which can directly sense the stress and deformation of the tire 60 and construct a two-dimensional strain field on the surface of the tire 60. The middle layer is a buffer layer 30, and a support unit 31 supports the outer tire 60, establishing a force flow transmission path. When the tire 60 is subjected to stress and deformation, it bears the stress and transmits pressure radially inward, realizing deformation response and mechanical coupling, while also achieving buffering and energy absorption. A second sensing unit is installed in the support unit 31, which can sense the stress and deformation of the support unit 31, thereby monitoring the force flow and load changes inside the wheel.

[0025] According to the lunar surface transport vehicle wheel based on multi-source sensing of this application, a multi-source sensing system is formed by setting a first sensing unit, a second sensing unit and a third sensing unit. Combined with a multi-layer structure, while maintaining high load-bearing capacity, compliance and durability, it has the ability to perceive its own structural state, stress state and surrounding surface conditions in real time. It can realize the wheel body directly participate in perception, decision-making and state monitoring, and realize the wheel body's real-time detection and adaptation to load, sinking, slippage, deformation and surrounding micro-topography, thereby significantly enhancing the reliability, safety and mission robustness of the transport vehicle in complex and unknown environments.

[0026] In some embodiments, the wheel also includes a hub motor 12, which is connected to the hub 11 and used to drive the wheel to rotate. Specifically, the hub motor 12 is integrally installed with the hub 11 and connected to the vehicle steering / suspension mechanism through an inner flange; the output torque of the hub motor 12 is applied to the tire 60 through the hub 11 and the buffer layer 30, thereby obtaining a larger contact area and traction on soft ground, and realizing wheel drive.

[0027] In some embodiments, the rotating isolation component is constructed as a bearing, the hub 11 is formed with a mounting shaft, the inner ring of the bearing is connected to the mounting shaft, and the outer ring of the bearing is connected to the mounting platform; when the hub 11 drives the mounting shaft to rotate, the mounting platform is kept from rotating by the relative movement of the outer ring and the inner ring of the bearing.

[0028] According to some embodiments of this application, the mounting platform is eccentrically positioned relative to the center of the hub 11. In this embodiment, the center of gravity of the mounting platform does not coincide with the rotation center of the hub 11. When the hub 11 rotates, the mounting platform is subjected to a torque opposite to the rotation direction of the hub 11 due to gravity. This torque can resist the influence of the hub 11's rotation on the mounting platform, helping the mounting platform to remain stable when the base rotates.

[0029] According to some embodiments of this application, the third sensing unit includes a visual sensor 22, a lidar 23, and an inertial sensor 24. In this embodiment, the visual sensor 22 can acquire image information of the wheel and its surrounding environment, thereby perceiving wheel information, wheel-surround terrain information, and wheel-ground contact information, including local micro-topography in front of the wheel, ground surface morphology under the wheel, local ground obstacles, wheel sinking depth, wheel flange compression, wheel embedding trend, local lunar soil support capacity, and tire indentation morphology. The lidar 23 can acquire three-dimensional point cloud data of the wheel's surrounding environment, establish a short-range micro-topography point cloud, and complement the visual system such as the visual sensor 22 to estimate height changes, potholes, and drops in the wheel's rolling direction. The inertial sensor 24 can monitor the wheel's angular velocity and acceleration, thereby perceiving wheel vibration, attitude changes, and rolling dynamics, and assisting in perceiving the coupling of the wheel's motion state with the vehicle body. The visual sensor 22, lidar 23 and inertial sensor 24 are mounted on the platform. They can maintain a fixed angle when the wheel rotates and can continuously sense the lunar surface environment information under the wheel and near the wheel, wheel-ground contact information and wheel and vehicle body attitude information.

[0030] In some embodiments, the mounting platform is located on one side of the wheel axial direction, specifically configured as a cantilever cabin 21. The vision sensor 22 is located outside the cantilever cabin 21; as... Figure 2 As shown, three visual sensors 22 (such as cameras) are respectively positioned directly below, below the front, and below the rear of the cantilever cabin 21, spaced at a certain angle. This allows for direct observation of the wheel shape, the front side of the wheel, and the rear side of the wheel, as well as the ground surface morphology. Further, it enables the perception of information such as the depth of wheel contact with the ground, the shape of lunar soil accumulation, the shape of tire tracks, and the presence of local surface obstacles. Furthermore, the visual sensors 22 employ a short-exposure strategy to avoid blurring caused by wheel movement. A lidar 23 is positioned externally on the cantilever cabin 21; as shown... Figure 2 As shown, two lidar sensors 23 are respectively positioned at the front and rear of the cantilever cabin 21. They can sense the three-dimensional environmental information of the front and rear sides of the wheels, forming forward and backward wheel track height models, measuring the ground surface height difference and tire 60 indentation curve, providing a quantitative benchmark for subsidence prediction. An inertial sensor 24 (such as an IMU inertial sensor 24) is installed inside the cantilever cabin 21. Figure 2 As shown. When the vehicle body undergoes attitude changes, such as tilting, pitching, or yawing, the inertial sensor 24 can accurately capture the attitude changes of the vehicle body by measuring the acceleration and angular velocity of the vehicle body in real time. By fusing the attitude change data of the vehicle body with the observation data of the vision sensor 22 / LiDAR 23, the observation data offset caused by the attitude change of the vehicle body can be eliminated, and dynamic rolling compensation can be provided.

[0031] In some embodiments, a common-view calibration target is provided on the hub 11 to facilitate joint calibration of external parameters by the visual sensor 22 and the lidar 23 through observation of the common-view calibration target, thereby ensuring accurate fusion of the visual point cloud and the radar point cloud in the coordinate system of the cantilever cabin 21.

[0032] In addition, the lenses of the camera and lidar 23 are equipped with sealed transparent windows and piezoelectrically driven scraping mechanisms. The sealed transparent windows are equipped with dust accumulation sensors. Based on the detection signals of the dust accumulation sensors or periodic instructions, the scraping mechanism can self-clean the sealed transparent windows to ensure a clear and transparent field of view.

[0033] Furthermore, such as Figure 3 As shown, the cantilever module 21 comprises three layers: an outer module 211, an inner module 213, and a vibration isolation layer 212 positioned between the outer and inner modules. The outer module 211 is coated with a high-emissivity, low-absorption aerospace-grade thermal control coating. A heat-conducting ring based on phase change material and a miniature thermoelectric cooler are embedded between the vibration isolation layer 212 and the inner module 213. The module also incorporates multiple temperature sensors. Based on the data from these sensors, closed-loop control of the miniature thermoelectric cooler's operation can be achieved, ensuring that the electronic equipment within the module operates within a safe temperature range under extreme lunar surface temperature cycles. Therefore, the cantilever module 21 enables active thermal control.

[0034] According to some embodiments of this application, each support unit 31 has at least one support portion 311, which extends spirally from the hub 11 to the tire 60; the second sensing unit includes a strain gauge 41, which extends along the main deformation direction of the support portion 311 and is disposed in the corresponding support portion 311. In this embodiment, as... Figure 4 As shown, each support unit 31 has at least one support portion 311, which extends spirally from the hub 11 to the tire 60, supporting the outer tire 60 and forming a force transmission path and a controllable buckling band, working in conjunction with the outer tire 60 to attenuate energy. Wherein, as Figure 5As shown, strain gauges 41 are provided in the support portion 311 of the partial support unit 31. The strain gauges 41 monitor torque / load by sensing minute deformations such as torsion, bending, or tension of the support portion 311. Simultaneously, the strain gauges 41 are arranged in the same direction as the main deformation direction of the support portion 311 to improve detection sensitivity. Furthermore, multiple strain gauges 41 form a strain gauge array, which can comprehensively sense wheel stress concentration, force flow direction, and impact events. It can measure radial load, contact torque, and wheel-soil interaction direction, and can calculate vertical load, traction force, lateral stabilizing force, and torque transmission efficiency. It can be used to determine wheel load changes and differences in surface hardness. In this embodiment, the support unit 31 can decompose the ground force of the wheel into a measurable structural strain mode, amplifying small-scale load changes to form a predictable mechanical response trajectory when the wheel rolls over rocks or sinks into soft soil.

[0035] In some embodiments, such as Figure 1 , Figure 6 As shown, multiple support units 31 in the buffer section are arranged in a circumferential and axial array around the wheel hub 11, providing uniform support for the outer tire 60. Simultaneously, multiple corresponding second sensing units can comprehensively sense the localized force at the contact point when the wheel rolls. In a specific embodiment, the support units 31 are arranged in 24 rows circumferentially and 3 columns axially, with each support unit 31 including 4 support portions 311. Second sensing units are installed in 12 columns of support units 31 evenly arranged circumferentially, and each support portion 311 in these 12 columns is equipped with a strain gauge 41.

[0036] Furthermore, such as Figure 4 , 5 As shown, the support unit 31 is constructed as a ram's horn-like spiral structure, specifically a tensile-spiral composite metamaterial unit that can provide high energy absorption and complex force flow transmission characteristics under low density conditions. The support unit 31 includes multiple support parts 311, and the outer surface of each support part 311 is composed of a torsional and bent spatial curved surface. Each support part 311 can generate significant strain when subjected to radial compression and tangential shear.

[0037] Furthermore, in each support unit 31, multiple support parts 311 are close to each other in the direction close to the hub 11 and far away from each other in the direction close to the tire 60; the ends of the multiple support parts 311 close to the hub 11 are connected to each other to form a whole so as to be fixedly connected to the hub 11, and the ends close to the tire 60 are separated from each other and connected to the tire 60 respectively, forming multiple support forces, thereby establishing multiple stable and controllable force transmission paths.

[0038] According to some embodiments of this application, the stiffness of the support portion 311 varies continuously along the radial direction of the buffer layer 30; and the stiffness of the support portion 311 on the side closer to the hub 11 is greater than the stiffness of the support portion 311 on the side closer to the tire 60. In this embodiment, the stiffness of the support portion 311 gradually increases along the direction from the tire 60 to the hub 11, so that the wheel has a progressive load-bearing characteristic, achieving "the more pressure, the stiffer," which can optimize the balance between load-bearing and vibration reduction.

[0039] According to some embodiments of this application, the helix angle of the support portion 311 changes continuously along the extension direction, and the radius of curvature of the support portion 311 also changes continuously along the extension direction. In this embodiment, both the helix angle and the radius of curvature of the support portion 311 change continuously along the extension direction, enabling the support unit 31 to form a continuous stiffness gradient in the radial direction, thereby giving the wheel a progressive load-bearing characteristic. The helix angle and radius of curvature of the support portion 311 change continuously along the extension direction according to a preset function; the preset function is set according to actual needs and defined using key parameters. In some embodiments, the range of the helix angle of the support portion 311 is 30° to 70°, such that the equivalent compressive modulus on the tire 60 side is more than 1.5 times that on the hub 11 side.

[0040] According to some embodiments of this application, a tire 60 has a mesh tread 61, and the mesh tread 61 has a plurality of optical fiber mounting slots arranged in a cross pattern; the first sensing unit includes a plurality of optical fibers, which are disposed one-to-one in the optical fiber mounting slots. The mesh tread 61 is made of metal mesh or formed by weaving metal wires. In this embodiment, as... Figure 7 As shown, the tire 60 has a mesh tread 61, which is made of metal wire mesh or woven from metal wires. This gives the tire 60 both impact resistance and a certain degree of flexible deformation capability, enabling it to adapt to lunar surface morphology and loose lunar regolith, and also enhancing the frictional coupling between the tire and the lunar regolith. In some embodiments, the tire 60 is specifically constructed as a grid tire, woven from heat-resistant metal wire mesh or high-ductility metal ribs, with a periodic grid geometry, giving the tire 60 high impact resistance and the ability to adapt to loose lunar regolith; the outer surface of the tire 60 has an open mesh structure, which can produce measurable localized indentation deformation upon contact with the ground. Figure 8 , 9As shown, optical fibers are embedded in the mesh tread 61 skeleton of the tire 60, arranged in a cross-woven pattern along the circumference and radial direction of the tire 60, forming a deformation sensing network on the outer layer of the tire 60, thus creating a two-dimensional strain field. Both the tire and the optical fibers have high flexibility and grounding adaptability. When the tire 60 is grounded, it experiences local deformation under stress, which is directly transmitted to the corresponding area of ​​the optical fiber. The optical fiber can sense the local deformation amplitude through the drift amount, thereby sensing information such as tire strain, tire shape, tread torsion, local grounding deformation, contact pressure distribution, and soil embedment degree. Multiple sets of cross-arranged optical fibers form an outer fiber array 70 (such as an FBG fiber Bragg grating array), which can also distinguish the directionality of deformation on the outer surface of the tire 60. In this embodiment, by setting up the fiber array 70, it is possible to measure the deformation of the entire wheel body, and also to calculate the wheel-soil interaction force, subsidence depth, and local loading trend of the tire body, realizing the monitoring of deformation in the entire circumference and radial direction of the wheel.

[0041] Furthermore, micro-bumps are formed at the nodes where the optical fiber intersects with another optical fiber, which can locally enhance deformation sensing.

[0042] In some embodiments, a strain gauge 41 signal receiving module 42 is also provided inside the cantilever cabin 21; the strain gauge 41 signal receiving module 42 is connected to the aforementioned plurality of optical fibers via flexible cabling, and can receive signals generated by the optical fibers, and is suitable for converting optical signals into electrical signals. Figure 2 As shown, the strain gauge 41 signal receiving module 42 is specifically installed inside the cantilever cabin 21.

[0043] According to some embodiments of this application, a support layer 50 is provided between the buffer layer 30 and the tire 60, and the support layer 50 connects the tire 60 and the radially outer end of the support unit 31; the support layer 50 is made of damping material and has flexible metal reinforcing ribs. In this embodiment, the support layer 50 provided between the buffer layer 30 and the tire 60 can more stably connect the tire 60 and each support unit 31 in the buffer layer 30 and improve the load-bearing capacity of the wheel. The support layer 50 and the tire 60 together form the outer load-bearing structure of the wheel; the support layer 50 is composed of damping material and flexible metal reinforcing ribs, which can transfer the deformation distribution of the outer tire 60 to the inner support unit 31; at the same time, the support layer 50 has both tear resistance and deformation amplification functions, so that small external forces acting on the middle layer can be enhanced.

[0044] In the above embodiments, the tire 60, fiber optic array 70, support layer 50, and buffer layer 30 form an integrated deformable structure, which, together with the wheel hub 11 and mounting platform, constitutes a soft-rigid body cooperative wheel system for driving on complex terrain. The visual sensor 22, lidar 23, inertial sensor 24, strain gauge array 41, and fiber optic array 70 form a five-level perception system for the wheel. Specifically, the fiber optic array 70 is used to construct a two-dimensional strain field on the surface of the tire 60, the strain gauge array is used to monitor internal load transfer, the visual sensor 22 and lidar 23 are used to directly observe the micro-terrain and sinking state under the wheel, and the inertial sensor 24 is used to monitor the wheel's attitude. Through the organic collaboration of multimodal sensors, the wheel body of this application can directly participate in perception, decision-making, and state monitoring, achieving comprehensive acquisition of tire deformation, contact torque, sinking depth, slippage state, and local terrain features, ultimately realizing an intelligent wheel system for lunar surface transportation with a multi-level coupled structure and multimodal full-domain perception.

[0045] In some embodiments, the power supply and data communication of the sensing system adopt a redundant architecture; the power supply and high-speed data bus are introduced from slip rings or non-contact energy-data couplers on both sides of the hub 11 in a dual-loop configuration and connected to the corresponding sensing units; in the event of a failure in any loop, the system can automatically switch to the backup loop to ensure that the core sensing function is not interrupted. Furthermore, the installation platform provides hard-wired channels for power lines and data lines to run through, and prevents cable fatigue caused by wheel rotation.

[0046] According to some embodiments of this application, the lunar surface transport vehicle wheel further includes a central processing unit 80. The central processing unit 80 is connected to a first sensing unit, a second sensing unit, and a third sensing unit, and is used to acquire and fuse the sensing data from the first sensing unit, the second sensing unit, and the third sensing unit to perform risk prediction. In this embodiment, the central processing unit 80 is used to achieve the fusion of multimodal sensing data and generate subsidence and slippage risk predictions.

[0047] Specifically, such as Figure 2As shown, the central processing unit 80 is located within the cantilever cabin 21 and is connected to the strain gauge 41 signal receiving module 42, vision sensor 22, lidar 23, inertial sensor 24, and fiber optic array 70 to receive and process multimodal sensing signals. As the control core, the central processing unit 80 performs fiber optic signal processing, force inference of the support unit 31, load monitoring of the hub motor 12, terrain reconstruction, subsidence prediction model, and risk control strategies. It can fuse the sensing data from the fiber optic cable, strain gauge 41, vision sensor 22, lidar 23, and inertial sensor 24 in real time, outputting a subsidence risk index, wheel-soil contact stability, and slippage prediction. The five types of data undergo structure-terrain coupling inference in the central processing unit 80 to achieve real-time early warning of tire 60 collapse, obstruction, and slippage trends. Furthermore, the central processing unit 80 is connected to the vehicle controller and can generate corresponding control commands, warning commands, or requests based on the sensing and prediction results, sending these commands or requests to the vehicle controller to remind the upper-level planning module to adjust the path.

[0048] In addition, the central processing unit 80 is also connected to the hub motor 12, which can monitor the internal temperature and current fluctuations of the hub motor 12 to infer rolling resistance and potential jamming. Furthermore, the central processing unit 80 is also connected to the aforementioned dust accumulation sensor, temperature sensor, miniature thermoelectric cooler, and scraping mechanism to achieve active thermal control and cleaning of the cantilever compartment 21.

[0049] In some embodiments, the central processing unit 80 has a built-in subsidence prediction and risk assessment model, which includes a risk assessment classifier. The workflow of the subsidence prediction and risk assessment model includes mechanical state inversion, terrain dynamic analysis, and multi-source fusion decision-making, which will be described in detail in the perception and early warning methods section below.

[0050] This application also proposes a method for sensing and early warning of the aforementioned lunar surface-carrying wheels, such as... Figure 10 As shown, it includes the following steps: S1. Collect structural strain data, internal stress data, under-wheel visual data, 3D point cloud data, and inertial data of the wheel; S2. Mechanical state inversion: Based on the parameterized digital twin model of the wheel structure, mechanical inversion is performed according to the structural strain data and internal stress data to obtain the three-dimensional vector of wheel-soil contact force and the equivalent bearing modulus of lunar soil. S3. Terrain Dynamics Analysis: By integrating under-wheel visual data and 3D point cloud data, a dynamic field characterizing lunar soil particle migration and terrain changes is generated. S4. Multi-source fusion decision-making: The three-dimensional vector of wheel-soil contact force, the equivalent bearing modulus of lunar soil, and the dynamic field are coupled and analyzed to obtain the predicted value of subsidence depth, the slip risk index, and generate early warning instructions.

[0051] In step S1, during the initialization of the perception system, the high-precision encoder signal of the hub motor 12 and the perception data of the inertial sensor 24 are used to establish a precise mapping relationship between the wheel rotation phase and absolute time, providing a unified time-space reference for all circumferentially distributed perception units. At the same time, the visual sensor 22 and the lidar 23 complete the joint calibration of external parameters by observing the common-view calibration target fixed on the hub 11, ensuring the precise fusion of the visual point cloud and the radar point cloud in the coordinate system of the cantilever cabin 21.

[0052] In step S1, the tire 60 undergoes local deformation after grounding, and the optical fiber experiences spectral drift due to bending. The central processing unit 80 calculates the deformation direction and depth of the outer layer, thereby realizing the acquisition of outer layer deformation. The strain gauge 41 of the support unit 31 synchronously records the stress state. Based on the wheel structure model, the central processing unit 80 can calculate the vertical load, traction force, lateral stability force, and torque transmission efficiency, thereby realizing the calculation of the inner layer mechanical response. The camera and lidar 23 reconstruct the terrain around the tire 60, and the central processing unit 80 identifies soft areas, abrupt slope changes, or sinking trends, thereby realizing the identification of the ground condition.

[0053] In step S2, the surface strain field sensed by the fiber optic array 70 and the internal stress sensed by the strain gauge array 41 are input into the parameterized digital twin model of the wheel. By solving the optimization problem, the normal pressure distribution, longitudinal shear force, and lateral shear force of the contact patch between the wheel and the lunar soil are reproduced in real time, and the equivalent stiffness of the lunar soil in the contact area is estimated to obtain the three-dimensional vector of the wheel-soil contact force and the equivalent bearing modulus of the lunar soil, generating the tire deformation map. The parameterized digital twin model of the wheel is determined according to the wheel structure, which includes the finite element digital twin model of the buffer layer 30. The tire deformation map is used to estimate the vehicle's subsidence trend, traction changes, and local slip risk on the loose ground.

[0054] In step S3, the continuous frame wheel track point cloud acquired by lidar 23 is registered and differentially calculated to obtain the displacement vector field of the lunar soil surface; at the same time, the texture changes captured by visual sensor 22 are used to help judge the state of particle flow; the visual data under the wheel and the three-dimensional point cloud data are fused to generate a dynamic field characterizing the migration of lunar soil particles and topographic changes, and a surface flow prediction map is generated by combining a time series filtering model and a local strain accumulation model.

[0055] In step S4, the inverted mechanical parameters (such as the three-dimensional vector of wheel-soil contact force and the equivalent bearing modulus of lunar soil) and topographic dynamic parameters (such as the dynamic field characterizing lunar soil particle migration and topographic changes) are input into a trained risk assessment classifier for coupled analysis. The classifier outputs quantified subsidence trend probability, subsidence depth prediction, slip risk index, and slip risk level. When the risk level exceeds the threshold, the central processing unit 80 generates warning and control commands, adjusts the torque of the hub motor 12, or sends a path replanning request to the vehicle controller. The multimodal sensor fusion employs at least one or more of the following: feature-level fusion, temporal-level fusion, or spatial response-level fusion.

[0056] The wheel in this application forms a multi-layered coupled system consisting of outer layer perception, middle layer force, inner layer drive, and outer compartment comprehensive perception.

[0057] The lunar surface carrier wheel based on multi-source sensing according to this application has the following technical advantages compared with the prior art: (1) Realize the real-time deformation perception of the wheel body itself: Through the outer fiber array 70, a fine deformation map of the tire 60 surface can be obtained, which can be used to identify changes in contact area, local twisting during the slip stage, lunar soil peeling or particle embedding, so that the wheel has the ability to sense itself. (2) Realize monitoring of internal force flow and load changes: The strain gauge 41 embedded in the support unit 31 provides monitoring of the internal force flow channel, which helps to identify whether the wheel is subjected to lateral shear, judge the load shift caused by sinking, and predict the risk of vehicle overturning. At the same time, it has a predictable and safe deformation path. The spiral extension structure of the support part 311 determines that the deformation mode is directional and will not cause random buckling. (3) Capturing micro-topography and sinking trend under the wheel: The visual sensor 22 and lidar 23 mounted on the eccentric cantilever cabin 21 can capture small-scale geometric features in front of the rolling path, observe the sinking depth and wheel embedment in real time, and establish near-field depth map and sinking model. (4) Multimodal fusion improves the ability to predict slippage and vehicle getting stuck: The combination of multiple sensing units can realize the structural-level full-domain perception of the lunar mechanical environment, breaking through the limitations of traditional visual perception systems; the five-level perception fusion can directly and quantitatively perceive the mechanical properties of the lunar soil, providing the most direct physical basis for the passability judgment, greatly reducing the mission risk, and thus significantly improving the safety of the wheels when driving on the lunar surface. (5) Deep coupling of structure and function brings higher reliability: The three-layer heterogeneous structure forms a complementary relationship in mechanics. The outer layer is responsible for compliance, the middle layer is responsible for buffering, and the inner layer is responsible for bearing and integration. The overall sensor tire 60 has a high resistance to impact and fatigue.

[0058] This application can solve the problems existing in the prior art, such as the lack of in-situ contact sensing of the wheel, the inability to predict the deformation of the outer layer of the wheel and the trend of ground subsidence, the inability of the sensing system to get close to the ground and the insufficient resolution, the inability of the wheel structure to achieve controllable force flow transmission and efficient energy absorption, and the insufficient space of the integrated wheel hub to accommodate multiple sensors and circuits.

[0059] In the description of this application, it should be understood that the terms "center," "longitudinal," "lateral," "length," "width," "thickness," "upper," "lower," "front," "rear," "left," "right," "vertical," "horizontal," "top," "bottom," "inner," "outer," "clockwise," "counterclockwise," "axial," "radial," and "circumferential" indicate the orientation or positional relationship based on the orientation or positional relationship shown in the accompanying drawings. They are used only for the convenience of describing this application and simplifying the description, and do not indicate or imply that the device or element referred to must have a specific orientation, or be constructed and operated in a specific orientation. Therefore, they should not be construed as limitations on this application.

[0060] In the description of this application, "first feature" and "second feature" may include one or more of the features.

[0061] In the description of this application, "multiple" means two or more.

[0062] In the description of this application, the first feature being "above" or "below" the second feature may include the first and second features being in direct contact, or the first and second features being in contact through another feature between them.

[0063] In the description of this application, the terms "above," "over," and "on top" for the first feature and the second feature include the first feature being directly above or diagonally above the second feature, or simply indicate that the first feature is at a higher horizontal level than the second feature.

[0064] In the description of this specification, the references to terms such as "one embodiment," "some embodiments," "illustrative embodiment," "example," "specific example," or "some examples," etc., indicate that a specific feature, structure, material, or characteristic described in connection with that embodiment or example is included in at least one embodiment or example of this application. In this specification, the illustrative expressions of the above terms do not necessarily refer to the same embodiment or example. Furthermore, the specific features, structures, materials, or characteristics described may be combined in any suitable manner in one or more embodiments or examples.

[0065] Although embodiments of this application have been shown and described, those skilled in the art will understand that various changes, modifications, substitutions and alterations can be made to these embodiments without departing from the principles and spirit of this application, the scope of which is defined by the claims and their equivalents.

Claims

1. A lunar surface transport vehicle wheel based on multi-source sensing, characterized in that, include: A wheel hub and a tire, wherein the tire is disposed on the outer periphery of the wheel hub and a first sensing unit is disposed in the tire, the first sensing unit being used to sense the force and deformation of the tire; A buffer layer is disposed between the wheel hub and the tire. The buffer layer includes a plurality of support units spaced apart along the circumference, each support unit connecting the wheel hub and the tire. At least some of the support units are provided with a second sensing unit, which is used to sense the force and deformation of the corresponding support unit. The mounting platform is located on one side of the wheel hub and is connected to the wheel hub via a rotating isolation component; a third sensing unit is provided on the mounting platform, which is used to sense lunar surface environment information and wheel-to-ground contact information.

2. The lunar surface transport vehicle based on multi-source sensing according to claim 1, characterized in that, Each of the support units has at least one support portion that extends spirally from the hub to the tire; the second sensing unit includes a strain gauge that extends along the main deformation direction of the support portion and is disposed in the corresponding support portion.

3. The lunar surface transport vehicle based on multi-source sensing according to claim 2, characterized in that, The stiffness of the support portion changes continuously along the radial direction of the buffer layer; and the stiffness of the support portion on the side closer to the wheel hub is greater than the stiffness of the support portion on the side closer to the tire.

4. The lunar surface transport vehicle based on multi-source sensing according to claim 3, characterized in that, The helix angle of the support portion changes continuously along the extension direction of the support portion, and the radius of curvature of the support portion changes continuously along the extension direction of the support portion.

5. The lunar surface transport vehicle based on multi-source sensing according to claim 1, characterized in that, The tire has a mesh tread, and the mesh tread has multiple fiber optic mounting slots arranged in a cross pattern; the first sensing unit includes multiple optical fibers, and the multiple optical fibers are arranged one-to-one in the fiber optic mounting slots.

6. The lunar surface transport vehicle based on multi-source sensing according to claim 1, characterized in that, A support layer is provided between the buffer layer and the tire, and the support layer connects the tire and the radial outer end of the support unit; the support layer is made of damping material and has flexible metal reinforcing ribs.

7. The lunar surface transport vehicle based on multi-source sensing according to claim 1, characterized in that, The third sensing unit includes a visual sensor, a lidar, and an inertial sensor.

8. The lunar surface transport vehicle based on multi-source sensing according to claim 1, characterized in that, The mounting platform is offset from the center of the wheel hub.

9. The lunar surface transport vehicle based on multi-source sensing according to claim 1, characterized in that, Also includes: A central processing unit, connected to the first sensing unit, the second sensing unit, and the third sensing unit, is used to acquire and fuse the sensing data from the first sensing unit, the second sensing unit, and the third sensing unit for risk prediction.

10. A method for sensing and early warning of lunar surface-carrying wheels as described in any one of claims 1-9, characterized in that, Includes the following steps: Collect structural strain data, internal stress data, under-wheel visual data, 3D point cloud data, and inertial data of the wheel; Based on the parametric digital twin model of the wheel structure, mechanical inversion is performed according to the structural strain data and the internal stress data to obtain the three-dimensional vector of wheel-soil contact force and the equivalent bearing modulus of lunar soil. By fusing the under-wheel visual data with the three-dimensional point cloud data, a dynamic field characterizing lunar soil particle migration and terrain changes is generated; The three-dimensional vector of the wheel-soil contact force, the equivalent bearing modulus of the lunar soil, and the dynamic field are coupled and analyzed to obtain the predicted value of subsidence depth, the slip risk index, and generate early warning instructions.

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