Ground Test Results Research Articles

Noise suppression for an aeromagnetic measurement system on an unmanned helicopter.

An unmanned helicopter is one of the main platforms for conducting unmanned aerial vehicle aeromagnetic measurements and combines the advantages of rotary-wing and fixed-wing unmanned aerial vehicles. However, unmanned helicopter-based aeromagnetic measurement systems face complex static magnetic noise and maneuvering magnetic interference, which limit their practical performance. To address this issue, an improved multi-channel frequency measurement algorithm for the optically pumped magnetic sensor is proposed to suppress the static magnetic noise proportional to the frequency noise generated by the random quantization error and the airborne electromagnetic interference. A novel aeromagnetic compensation method for the maneuvering magnetic interference is then proposed to weaken the negative effects of the strong multicollinearity of the attitude parameters of the unmanned helicopter on the compensation accuracy and stability by introducing a regularization term and weight matrix. In addition, dedicated software is developed for the real-time calculation and compensation of magnetic interference fields. A dedicated unmanned-helicopter-based aeromagnetic measurement system is developed, and ground and flight experiments are carried out. The ground test results indicate that the static noise of the proposed system is only 0.000 82 nT. In the flight experiments, the system achieves an improvement ratio of 8.33, which is higher than the improvement ratio of 4.37 for a state-of-the-art commercial compensator. Furthermore, the dynamic noise after compensation decreases by 37.6% from 0.0157 to 0.0098 nT.

The Charged Particle Detection System of the SRD Module onboard the China Space Station

The radiation field environment outside the Earth varies greatly with space location and the cycle of solar activity, and the radiation environment near the space station’s orbit is much more complex than that on the Earth’s surface. Various high-energy cosmic ray particles and secondary particles produced by them and the bulkhead of the space station greatly impact the health of astronauts and the working conditions of instruments. Each aircraft is always equipped with some dedicated radiation monitoring instruments to assess the exposure risk for astronauts, and to analyze the causes of instrument failures. The Space Radiation Detector Module (SRDM) is working in the China Space Station (CSS) to measure the radiation environment inside, including two parts: the Charged Particle Detection System (CPDS) and the Neutron Detection System (NDS). The CPDS, which is the main content of this paper, contains a detector unit, that consists of three silicon detectors a BGO calorimeter, and the corresponding readout electronics unit of the detector unit. Ground test results show that the detection system can detect various charged particles from hydrogen to nitrogen ions with an energy resolution of less than 15%. The actual measurement results for a period in orbit show that the main types of charged particles in the cabin are protons and α particles, with measured energies ranging from 0.8 to 265.2 MeV for protons and from 1.0 to 61.6 MeV/A for α particles(where A is the mass number), and linear energy density (LET) range mainly from 1.0 to 612.4 keV/μm. The radiation environment data measured in CSS can provide an important reference value for the exposure risk, life science experiments, and the status of instruments on board.

Physics package based on intracavity laser cooling 87Rb atoms for space cold atom microwave clock

Abstract This article proposes a new physics package to enhance the frequency stability of the space cold atom clock with the advantages of a microgravity environment. Clock working processes, including atom cooling, atomic state preparation, microwave interrogation, and transition probability detection, are integrated into the cylindrical microwave cavity to achieve a high-performance and compact physics package for the space cold atom clock. We present the detailed design and ground-test results of the cold atom clock physics package in this article, which demonstrates a frequency stability of 1.2 × 10−12 τ −1/2 with a Ramsey linewidth of 12.5 Hz, and a better performance is predicted with a 1 Hz or a narrower Ramsey linewidth in microgravity environment. The miniaturized cold atom clock based on intracavity cooling has great potential for achieving space high-precision time-frequency reference in the future.

A thrust inversion method for small satellite electric propulsion based on a momentum wheel

Electric propulsion, which is an advanced form of thrust production, is widely used in small satellites. Measuring the thrust of electric propulsion in an orbit is difficult because it is very small (μN∼mN). However, the thrust of electric propulsion can be determined by evaluating the change in the speed of a momentum wheel. The contributions of this paper mainly include two aspects: 1) a robust PID controller and 2) a thrust inversion method. The torque of the electric propulsion is regarded as the disturbance torque in this paper. To achieve finite-time attitude stabilization of a satellite during electric propulsion, a robust PID controller is designed. Furthermore, the thrust of the electric propulsion can be determined in the stable attitude of the satellite by only measuring the speed derivative of the momentum wheel. Compared with the traditional thrust inversion method, the designed thrust inversion method is simple and effective and does not use a filtering algorithm. In the HIL experiment, the error rate between the inverted thrust (31.287 μN) and the designed thrust (30 μN) is 4.29%. Most importantly, the thrust inversion method is verified in orbit based on the small satellite APSCO SSS-1, which is consistent with the HIL experimental results and ground test results.

A navigation method for paddy field management based on seedlings coordinate information

Compared to tillage, transplanting, and harvesting operations in paddy fields, field management operations such as spraying and weeding require completing tasks along the rice seedling rows to minimize seedling damage and reduce operational losses. Visual navigation, as a commonly used navigation method, can identify rice seedling rows, but it is susceptible to complicated paddy field environments. To address these challenges, our study combines UAV (unmanned aerial vehicle) surveying technology with the YOLOv5s object detection algorithm and proposes a navigation method for paddy field management based on seedling coordinate information. Firstly, the YOLOv5s object detection algorithm was used to identify and locate rice seedling points in the UAV image, and a coordinate transformation model was established to extract the geographic coordinates of the seedling points. Secondly, in order to classify the recognized seedling points into different seedling rows, a classification algorithm was proposed, and the improved RANSAC algorithm further promoted the classification effect. Once again, to obtain a smooth navigation path for agricultural machinery navigation, B-spline curves were used to approximate the classified seedling points. Finally, the generated navigation paths were written into the navigation controller, and the navigation performance was tested on flat ground and paddy fields using a vehicle platform. The results of the flat ground test indicated that different bending degrees have a significant impact on the lateral error. When the bending degree was large, the maximum lateral error was less than 7 cm, and when the bending degree was small, the maximum lateral error was less than 4 cm. The navigation accuracy of RMS in the flat ground test was 2.7 cm. In the paddy field experiment, due to the influence of loose soil surfaces and potholes, the maximum lateral error was about 16 cm. The navigation accuracy of RMS in the paddy field experiment was 5.9 cm, which can meet the operational requirements. The experimental results show that the proposed navigation method can achieve automatic navigation of agricultural machinery along curved rice seedling rows under complex paddy field environments, such as light change, seedling shortage, uneven road surfaces, and curved seeding rows.

Ground Testing of the Landing Platform Television System of the Exomars-2022 Spacecraft

Ground testing results are presented for the landing platform television system (TSPP) within the complex of scientific payloads onboard the ExoMars-2022 spacecraft. In the course of the ground testing, the different operation modes have been checked and the camera characteristics have been measured and calibrated. The Space Research Institute (IKI RAS) has obtained photographic material from each camera, with the cameras being installed on a stand that simulates in full scale the ExoMars-2022 landing platform. In addition, special measurements have been collected for the cameras’ most important characteristics: horizontal and vertical angular field of view, distortion, focal length, resolution, dynamic range, vignetting coefficient, and absolute sensitivity.

An Experimental and Numerical Evaluation of the Aerodynamic Performance of a UAV Propeller Considering Pitch Motion

Considering the vibration generated by a propeller-driven UAV or encountering gust, the propeller will perform a very complex follower motion. A pitch and rotating coupled motion is proposed in the present work that can take more complex unsteady performance of follower force than a regular fixed-point rotating motion. In order to evaluate the unsteady follower force and conduct parametric study, an extensive ground test bench was designed for this purpose where the whole test system was driven by a linear servo actuator and the follower force was measured by a 6-component balance. For CFD simulation, coupled motion in particular needs detailed unsteady aerodynamic model; therefore, a high-fidelity CFD-based study integrated with the overset mesh method was complemented to solve the unsteady fluid of varying conditions. The results suggest that a significant influence on unsteady follower force is observed, and the mean value of in-plane force does not equal to zero during the coupled motion process. Compared with the regular fixed-point rotation of propeller, the fluctuation frequency of follower force in present work couples the rotation and pitch motion frequencies. In addition, the oscillation amplitude of out-plane force and torque is positively related with the pitch frequency, pitch amplitude, and relative length from leading edge of wing to the rotation center. For example, the oscillation amplitude of 1-blade’s out-plane force and torque increases by 57.122% and 66.542% for the 5 Hz-5 deg case compared with the 5 Hz-3 deg case, respectively. However, the torque is not sensitive to frequency of pitch motion. The generally excellent agreement evident between the ground test and numerical simulation results is important as guidance for our future investigation on “dynamic” aerodynamic performance of a propeller-driven UAV.

Spaceborne Relative Radiometer: Instrument Design and Pre-Flight Test

In order to simultaneously determine the values of total solar irradiance (TSI) and the Earth’s radiation at the top of the atmosphere (TOA) on board the Fengyun-3F satellite, a spaceborne relative radiometer (SRR) was developed. It adopts a dual-channel structure, including a solar radiometer channel (SR) with an unobstructed field of view (FOV) of 1.5° and an Earth radiometer channel (ER) with a wide field of view (WFOV) of 95.3° and a diameter of about 1900 km on the ground. Before the launch, both the SR and ER were calibrated. The SR, installed on the inner frame of the solar tracker of the SIM-II (solar irradiance monitor-II), is used to observe rapid changes in solar radiance with the SIAR (solar irradiance absolute radiometer), an electrical-substitution radiometer, on orbit. The ER is mounted on the U-shaped frame of the solar tracker, directly pointing in the nadir direction. Additionally, a dark space observation mode is used to determine the on-orbit background noise and lunar observation mode for on-orbit calibration. In this article, the instrument design and working principle of the SRR is first introduced, and an analysis of the measurement model of the ER, the WFOV channel of the SRR, is focused on. Finally, ground test results of the SRR are introduced.

다양한 작동 조건에서의 마이크로 터보젯 엔진 성능 예측을 위한 통합 해석 모델 구현 연구

In this study, an integrated CFD analysis implementation were conducted for the commercial micro turbojet engine, JetCat P300-RX, which has a maximum thrust of 300 N. A three-dimensional integrated analysis model includes major components of the micro gas turbine engine. A steady-state RANS (Reynolds Averaged Navier-Stokes) analysis was performed using ANSYS CFX V20.2. For the turbulence model and combustion model, the k-ω SST (Shear Stress Transport) model and the EDM (Eddy Dissipation Model) model were applied, respectively. The analysis were performed for various engine speed (RPM) conditions from 30,000 RPM to 106,000 RPM and various altitude conditions from sea level to 3.0 km. And the analysis results were verified by comparing with the actual engine test results. The comparison results showed that most of the performance parameters, such as thrust, exhaust gas temperature (EGT), air flow rate, and compression ratio in all analysis conditions (RPM and altitude) are in good agreement with the ground test results of commercial engines.

Ground test results of the microvibration interference for the x-ray microcalorimeter onboard x-ray imaging and spectroscopy mission

Resolve is a payload hosting an X-ray microcalorimeter detector operated at 50 mK in the X-Ray Imaging and Spectroscopy Mission (XRISM). It is currently under development as part of an international collaboration and is planned to be launched in 2023. A primary technical concern is the micro-vibration interference in the sensitive microcalorimeter detector caused by the spacecraft bus components. We conducted a series of verification tests in 2021-2022 on the ground, the results of which are reported here. We defined the micro-vibration interface between the spacecraft and the Resolve instrument. In the instrument-level test, the flight-model hardware was tested against the interface level by injecting it with micro-vibrations and evaluating the instrument response using the 50 mK stage temperature stability, ADR magnet current consumption rate, and detector noise spectra. We found strong responses when injecting micro-vibration at about 200, 380, and 610 Hz. In the former two cases, the beat between the injected frequency and cryocooler frequency harmonics were observed in the detector noise spectra. In the spacecraft-level test, the acceleration and instrument responses were measured with and without suspension of the entire spacecraft. The reaction wheels (RWs) and inertial reference units (IRUs), two major sources of micro-vibration among the bus components, were operated. In conclusion, the observed responses of Resolve are within the acceptable levels in the nominal operational range of the RWs and IRUs. There is no evidence that the resultant energy resolution degradation is beyond the current allocation of noise budget.

Medium and high energy electron detectors onboard BeiDou navigation satellite in MEO

Abstract This work introduces the instruments’ design of multi-directional medium-energy electron detector (energy range: 30–770 keV) and high-energy electron detector (energy range: 400 keV to 5.8 MeV) deployed on one of the BeiDou navigation satellites in medium earth orbit. Through the electromagnetic compatibility design, the problem of the detector signal being susceptible to electromagnetic interference is solved and the lower detection limit reaches a very low level of 20 keV. The proton contamination in the electron measurement can be effectively removed by designing the light-blocking layer and the logical working mode of the sensors. The detector circuits and sensor structure are optimized and the miniaturization of the instrument is realized. This study also introduces the calibration method of the detectors, and gives the ground test results, which can provide a basis for the on-orbit calibration and data processing of the instrument.

The Study of an Integrated Sensor for Partial Nucleate Pool Boiling at Low Heat Flux

To study local convention and heat transfer around an isolated growing vapor bubble during nucleate pool boiling on a well-characterized flat surface in microgravity, a microelectromechanical system (MEMS) sensor has been fabricated to pulse single bubble boiling. In this article, we present the design and fabrication process of an MEMS microchip, which can excite a bubble nucleus with accurate spatial and temporal positioning on the topside of the microchip, and meanwhile, the temperature on the heating surface around and underneath the growing bubble can be measured. The key points and difficulties of chip fabrication have been discussed, including the characteristics of the ultrathin Ti/Pt (10/35 nm) film, such as the effect of annealing on resistivity and its temperature coefficient of resistance (TCR). Then, the thermal cycling experiment has verified its stability. The results of the preliminary ground tests of the flight module SOBER-SJ10 show that the microchip works well as expected and laid a good foundation for meeting the requirements of future space experiments.

Assessing the Capacity and Coverage of Satellite IoT for Developing Countries Using a CubeSat

Many regions in developing countries do not have any access to communication networks even though the number of devices connected through the Internet of Things (IoT) is increasing significantly. A small satellite platform could provide global network coverage in low Earth orbit to these remote locations at a low cost. This paper describes the overall mission architecture and the implementation of remote IoT using a 1U volume in 6U CubeSat platform named KITSUNE. In KITSUNE, one of the missions is to leverage IoT for building a network of remote ground sensor terminals (GST) in 11 mostly developing countries. This paper evaluates the capacity and coverage of a satellite-based IoT network for providing remote data-collection services to these countries. The amount of data that could be collected from the GSTs and forwarded accurately to the users determines the actual capacity of the Store and Forward (S&F) mission. Therefore, there are several proposed parameters to estimate this capacity in this study. In addition, these parameters are retrieved from the simulations, ground test results, and on-orbit observations with the KITSUNE satellite. The proposed IoT system, which is composed of the GSTs and IoT subsystem onboard KITSUNE satellite, is determined to be capable of providing valuable information from remote locations. In addition, the collected data are achieved and analyzed to monitor sensory data specific to each country, and it could help to generate prediction profiles as well.

Pattern performance of active phased array antenna for Gaofen-3 satellite

The phased array antenna is one of the critical components of the space-borne SAR system and plays a key role in the quality of images. This paper focuses on the design of active phased array antenna for Gaofen-3 satellite, including its architecture, system design methods, key hardware, and the performance for the design implementation. The proposed phased array antenna have capabilities of beam broadening and scanning, left and right side look, polarization switching, in-orbit calibration, uploading beam-steering correction data, collecting self-checking information, and self-protection caused by over pulse width or duty cycle. The phased array antenna is mainly consisted of dual-polarized slotted waveguide antennas, TR modules, time-delay and amplifier modules and power distribution networks. Moreover, the solutions of the direct problem and inverse problem for accurately predicting the pattern and determining the states of TR modules for the required beam have been proposed. The obtained results can confirm that the cross-polarization level of both polarizations for the phased antenna array is below −35 dB. By employing the proposed antenna model, the beam steering error and dispersion error between the predicted and the measured beams in the range plane are less than 4% (100% probability) and less than 2% (95% probability). For beam steering in the azimuth plane, the beam steering error is less than 2% (90% probability), and less than 4% (100% probability). The ground and on-orbit test results have indicated that the functions and performance of the antenna meet the requirements of the SAR system.

Design and optimization of a transmission mechanism developed for distributed electric propulsion aircraft

In order to obtain better aerodynamic efficiency and take-off/landing capacity, it will be an excellent configuration for distributed electric propulsion (DEP) aircraft to install the blown flap in the propulsion wake. For this configuration, the coupling motion between the blown flap and the duct is hard to be achieved by the transmission mechanism of traditional distributed electric propulsion aircraft. This article describes the design and optimization of a transmission mechanism of a high lift device which composed of the distributed electric propulsion system and the blown flap. Firstly, the theoretical design rationale which is mainly based on the analytic hierarchy process and ant colony algorithm is introduced. Then, the kinematic simulation is conducted in details using closed loop vector equation. To further demonstrate the feasibility and reliability of the design approach, the functional test of a full-size transmission mechanism model is carried out. Kinematic simulation and ground test results show that the proposed mechanism can meet the requirements of the coupling motion between the duct and the blown flap, and the corresponding design scheme can be used to solve the design problem of such DEP aircraft transmission mechanism with the blown flap.

Robust Self-Learning PID Control of an Aircraft Anti-Skid Braking System

In order to deal with strong nonlinearity and external interference in the braking process, this paper proposes a robust self-learning PID algorithm based on particle swarm optimization, which does not depend on a precise mathematical model of the controlled object. The self-learning function is used to adapt to the diversity of the runway road surface friction, the particle swarm algorithm is used to optimize the rate of self-learning, and robust control is used to deal with the modeling uncertainty and external disturbance of the system. The convergence of the control strategy is proved by theoretical analysis and simulation experiments. The superiority and accuracy of the method are verified by NASA ground test results. The simulation results shows that the adverse effect of the external disturbance is suppressed, and the ideal trajectory is tracked.

A small-distributed aerodynamic brake prototype and its effects on the vertical dynamics of high-speed electromagnetic suspension maglevs

Aerodynamic braking is a clean and environmentally friendly braking mode, and it does not use mechanical friction as its braking force. In this study, we discuss the development of a small-distributed aerodynamic brake prototype and its structure, working principle, ground test and test results. A computational fluid dynamics (CFD) method is developed to record the aerodynamic forces of the prototype, and the simulation results are validated with the wind tunnel test. On the basis of the CFD simulation, the panel opening and braking processes are modelled to analyse the vertical dynamic characteristics of a high-speed electromagnetic suspension maglev with aerodynamic brakes. In addition, a vehicle, guideway and levitation controller are modelled. Finally, a three-car system dynamic model is used to study the effects of the opening time, initial braking position and feedback gains. The aerodynamic forces of the first car show the most significant changes when the braking panels are opened. The increase in the longitudinal force is 15 461.16 N, and the vertical force varies from a lift force of 35 342.98 N to a downforce of 40 721.35 N. The maximum guideway deflection decreases as the opening time increases. The difference between the deflections recorded at the opening time of 0.064 s and 0.6 s is 1.2 mm. Furthermore, the vertical acceleration decreases as the opening time increases. The condition under which the vehicle brakes when the first car enters the object guideway has the maximum effect on the deflection of the guideway. To ensure levitation stability, influenced by the vertical change of the first car, a high feedback gain for the levitation clearance change is required. However, the levitation stability with aerodynamic brakes has low sensitivity to the feedback gains for the observed velocity and acceleration of the system.

Encapsulation Based Method for Natural Frequency Identification of Deployable Solar Arrays with Multiple Plates

The ground modal test is an important approach to the natural frequency of solar arrays to support the attitude control of spacecraft. However, for the batch production of small satellites, the accuracy and efficiency of traditional ground modal testing methods are limited. This shortcoming restricts the development of satellite constellations. Based on the encapsulation method widely used in the computer field, this paper proposed a natural frequency identification method of deployable solar arrays with multiple plates. This method is of high accuracy and efficiency that meets the demand of attitude control and makes sense to accelerate the batch production of small satellites. First, a suspended modal test system with gravity compensation function is designed. Second, the mathematical model of the test system is established. Abstracting parts of the parameters of the test object into an encapsulated entity, the mathematical model is simplified by equivalent variables. Thus, the direct mapping relationship between the ground test result and the true natural frequency is proposed. Finally, to verify the identification accuracy, finite element analysis (FEA) and the ground modal test of a two-folder solar array simulant are carried out. The results show that the relative error of the first-order natural frequency after correction and the theoretical value is less than 3%. Meanwhile, the identification accuracy of the ground modal test is improved by more than 50%. This method improves the availability of ground test results and reduces the calculation amount, so that it is convenient for engineering applications.

Experimental Validation on Active Vibration Reduction System for 2.4m×2.4m Transonic Wind Tunnel Model

An active vibration reduction system has been developed to solve pitch vibration problems of the force test models in 2.4m × 2.4m transonic wind tunnel. The twin flexure hinges structure types and PD control algorithm are used in the system. The constitution of active vibration reduction system is presented. The results of Ground Tests and wind tunnel tests are given. The influence of the system on the static signal of the balance and its performance are discussed. The ground tests show that the system can increase the damping of the sting more than tenfold. It is shown that the vibration amplitude decreases by more than 70% in wind tunnel tests. The wind tunnel tests also reveal that the active vibration reduction system has relatively strong performance on the suppression of the model vibration.

Ground performance tests and evaluation of RF ion microthrusters for Taiji-1 satellite

The “Taiji-1” satellite is a test satellite for the verification of those key technologies involved in the “Taiji Program in Space”, China’s space gravitational wave detection project; and the spacecraft drag-free control technology is one of its key technologies used to improve the microgravity level of spacecraft. Thus, a demand for a high-precision and continuously adjustable micronewton-level thrust has been proposed on the spacecraft micro-propulsion system. In allusion to such a task, a set of micronewton-level RF ion propulsion system was designed based on the principle of self-sustained discharge of RF plasma so as to conduct studies on the parameter optimization and engineering of RF ion thruster, and an engineering prototype of the micronewton-level continuously adjustable RF ion thruster was successfully developed to meet the design index requirements. The operating parameters have been solidified through further studies on the extreme operating conditions of the engineering prototype, and a series of ground simulation tests of space environment were successfully passed. The ground test and calibration experiment results of the micro-propulsion engineering prototype show that the engineering prototype has fully met the requirements of the Taiji-1 mission, thus having laid a solid foundation for the successful space verification of the key technologies for the “Taiji-1” satellite.