Abstract
In this paper, an automated umbilical system based on a 6-dof (degree of freedom) hydraulic parallel mechanism is proposed to automate the rocket propellant loading process. The mechanical structure, vision acquisition algorithm, and control algorithm used in the system are described in detail in the paper. To address the fluid nonlinearity problem of the hydraulic drive system, nonlinear compensation and three-state feedback control are used in the paper to enhance the performance of the hydraulic system. For the problem of force tracking during the docking process between the umbilical system and the rocket, an adaptive impedance control algorithm based on the online environmental parameter estimation is proposed in the paper, which effectively reduces the contact force during the docking process. The dynamic tracking and docking experiments indicate that this automated umbilical system features rapid reaction speed, high measurement precision, and good flexibility, which can be used to realize the auto-mating and following task for the propellant loading robot in a hazardous environment.
Highlights
The ground umbilical system typically refers to the connecting device between the launch vehicle and the launch tower used to provide propellant refueling, electrical power and control, hazardous gas detection, and system checkout for the rocket [1]
A novel automated umbilical mating system based on a hydraulic 6-dof parallel manipulator is proposed to realize the umbilical docking task during the process of rocket propellant loading
The automated docking device adopts a fusion of laser range finder and monocular camera to locate the moving fuel port and guide the automated docking system approaching the rocket fuel port
Summary
The ground umbilical system typically refers to the connecting device between the launch vehicle and the launch tower used to provide propellant refueling, electrical power and control, hazardous gas detection, and system checkout for the rocket [1]. The connector is manually docked to the fuel port by technicians and the umbilical remains attached to the rocket throughout propellant loading and launch preparation until the rocket lifts off [1,2]. A novel automatic umbilical system based on a hydraulic 6-dof parallel mechanism is proposed to achieve automatic mating and dismating work of umbilical connectors It has a larger load capacity than the conventional 3-dof parallel mechanism and can accurately track the rocket filler port in six degrees of freedom in the working space. The position deviation vector B∆X of the end effector and the target object in the basement coordinate can be derived as
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