月球钻取采样机构的钻杆结构与运动参数分析

针对月球钻取式自动采样机构空心外螺旋钻杆取样过程,分别建立了月壤内聚力和月壤内摩擦系数随月壤深度变化的数学模型,建立了钻进过程中钻杆运动参数(钻进速度和钻杆转速)与钻杆结构参数(钻杆螺旋升角、外径、槽宽比和螺旋槽深等)之间的关系。建模过程考虑了月壤物理和机械特性随钻进深度变化特性、钻杆钻进牵连速度及月壤微元相互间的抗剪性,使得钻杆参数符合月球钻取采样的实际工况。对模型进行了验证,利用该模型开展了钻杆结构参数对运动参数的影响分析,给出了钻杆结构参数对钻杆运动参数的影响规律,获得了钻杆结构参数的最佳取值范围。以钻杆转速与钻进速度比最小为优化目标,以结构参数为设计变量,基于遗传算法对钻杆结构参数进行了优化,优化后的钻杆转速与转进速度比降低了13.8%。该优化结果降低了系统能耗,提高了钻取采样输月壤效率,可为钻取式自动采样机构的设计提供理论依据。     

轴向敲击式钻取采样装置方案研究

针对地外行星浅表层钻探采样对采样装置低功耗、小尺度的需求,提出一种轴向敲击式钻取采样装置设计方案:将增力机构与棘轮棘条机构结合,通过对钻取采样过程的钻进阻力实时检测,实现钻取采样钻进速度及钻进力的控制;将轴向进给电机的输出扭矩通过增力机构传递至钻杆,实现增力效果,降低了钻取采样功耗。该方案的可行性通过设计示例得到了验证,可作为未来地外行星采样装置设计的借鉴。     

一种基于时序形态的航天器动态模式提取方法

针对航天器动态特性分析过程中遇到的建模过程复杂、处理速度较慢、分析结果不易进行直观解释等问题,通过借鉴符号化近似思想,提出了一种基于时序形态的航天器动态模式提取方法。该方法首先采用分段线性化算法获取一系列分割线段以近似表示遥测序列形态,然后使用系统聚类分析技术对分割线段进行分类,最后基于分类结果将遥测时间序列数据转化为蕴含形态信息的符号序列。验证结果表明该方法简单、有效,所提取的动态模式符号序列不仅可体现遥测时序数据的显著变化,也可表征遥测序列的细微变化,可作为遥测序列识别与异常检测的依据。     

基于序列趋势和集合距离的UAV态势相似性度量方法

在无人机（UAV）自主作战与智能决策的过程中，无人机获取的新态势与历史态势的相似性度量是态势评估与作战决策的重要环节，而现有的相似性度量方法主要处理离散时刻态势，采用的欧式距离等方法对数据敏感，不符合作战态势特性，且处理效率低下，针对该问题，提出基于序列趋势和集合距离的UAV态势相似性度量方法。该方法首先选取UAV作战态势要素并以时间序列形式表征数据；然后，使用经验模态分解方法提取历史态势与新态势的序列趋势以度量序列趋势的相似性；最后，对趋势相似的每条态势序列进行自组织映射聚类，得到若干聚类中心构成集合，利用最优子模式分配距离度量集合间的距离，提取集合距离较小的部分获得与新态势相似的历史经验态势。通过公用数据集的分类效果比对实验以及作战仿真态势的相似性度量实验，表明该方法能够有效度量两序列之间的相似性程度，度量效果好，分类实验中分类精度较传统方法最高提高18%，且方法简便，具有一定的实用价值。     

月面巡视器车载机械臂采样方案设计

针对月面机器人表取采样任务中的机械臂安全性问题,建立了末端与月壤接触力模型,分析了机械臂末端采样入土角和采样速度对末端采样接触力作用的影响,结合月面机器人表取采样任务需求,设计了一套满足末端接触力最小的优化采样方案:给出不同紧密程度土壤下最佳的入土角和采样速度;为保证采样任务中机械臂的安全性,在建立的车载机械臂动力学模型基础上,采用力位混合控制方法设计了末端接触力控制策略。仿真结果表明,该采样方案能够使采样时末端与土壤间的接触力最小,机械臂末端接触力能得到有效控制。     

基于压缩感知的高频响流场重构方法及其应用

粒子图像测速（PIV）方法具有高空间分辨率的优势,但是往往受到采样频率的限制（一般在15 Hz以下）,难以完成高频响测量。压缩感知（CS）能够基于稀疏采样数据获得高频信息,但如果直接应用于所有的数据点则计算量过大。基于亚采样（sub-Nyquist）PIV数据,本文提出了基于压缩感知和本征正交分解（POD）的高频响流场重构方法。首先采用POD对数据降维,同时获取空间模态和相应的亚采样时间系数,将亚采样时间系数作为观测值,选取适当的稀疏基,通过求解基追踪问题来计算高频响的模态系数。结合空间模态和所得到的时间分辨模态系数,可以重构高频响的非定常流场。利用该方法分别对周期性的振荡器流场和非周期性的不同直径圆柱流场进行重构,检测该方法的适应性。结果表明,压缩感知方法无需侵入式的辅助测量,可以为周期性流场提供准确的重构,重构误差低于3%,而对于非周期性复杂流场,则出现较大的高频噪声。因此,本文所提出的方法可以应用到周期性流场中以提高测量数据的时间分辨率。     

一种高光谱图像的双压缩感知模型

高光谱图像因其海量数据性,给存储、传输及后续分析处理带来了挑战。压缩感知理论提供了一种全新的信号采集框架。针对高光谱数据的三维特性,提出一种双压缩感知的采样与重构模型。该模型在采样阶段兼顾高光谱数据的空间和谱间稀疏特性,构造了能同时实现空间和谱间压缩采样的感知矩阵;重构阶段不同于传统的压缩感知重构方法直接重构高光谱数据,而是将高光谱数据分离成端元和丰度分别进行重构,然后利用重构的端元和丰度信息合成高光谱数据。实验结果表明,所提双压缩感知在低采样率下重构精度较三维压缩采样提高了10 dB以上,更为显著的是运算速度提升了3个数量级,同时该方法还便于获得端元和丰度信息。     

不同粒径分布模拟月壤承压特性试验研究

月壤的承压特性决定月面巡视探测器的行驶阻力和沉陷,是影响月面可通过性的主要特征之一。为了得出不同粒径分布的模拟月壤在巡视器地面载荷和月面载荷下的承压特性,通过压板试验获取了3种不同粒径分布模拟月壤的承压性能曲线与参数。分析表明:粒径分布对模拟月壤承压性能影响大,粒径粗且分布均匀的JLU-1模拟月壤承压能力最强,其次为JLU-3模拟月壤,而粒径细且分布窄的JLU-2模拟月壤承压能力最弱;3种模拟月壤的变形指数在其他模拟月壤的范围内,松软状态时接近月壤值,在小载荷作用且松软状态时变形指数小于1;3种模拟月壤的内聚模量在其他模拟月壤的范围内,但大于月壤值;松软状态时3种模拟月壤的摩擦模量在其他模拟月壤的范围内,中密和密实状态下均大于月壤值。研究结果对月面探测器行走机构的仿真和路径规划具有参考意义。     

基于轮地作用参数和PLSDA方法的月壤力学性能评估

为评估在轨月球车周边环境月壤力学性能,以月球车辙信息、轮上载荷和滑转率作为基本参数,提出了16个二元及三元标识量,结合偏最小二乘判别方法(PLSDA)建立评估月壤力学状态模型。根据容重对模拟月壤力学状态进行分级,分别为松软状态、自然状态和紧实状态。应用轮壤相互作用试验台共采集247组试验数据,每种模拟月壤状态的试验数据按照2:1比例随机划分为校正集样本和预测集样本,最终校正集和预测集样本个数分别为166和81个。考虑到原始数据值相差大和所提出部分标识量包含冗余信息的特点,因此在建立PLSDA模型时,应用均值中心化预处理方法对原始数据进行数据预处理,并优选10个标识量建立识别月壤力学状态的PLSDA模型,对应的校正集的准确率和预测集的准确率分别为90.96%和90.12%。结果表明,应用PLSDA方法并结合月球车的车辙信息、轮上载荷和滑转率以及优选标识量所建立的评估月壤力学状态判别模型,其计算快速准确,可用于月球车在轨评估车轮前方月壤的力学特性和通过性能评估。     

激光探测“猫眼”效应目标识别算法

提出了一种基于压缩感知理论的＂猫眼＂效应目标识别算法,应用随机采样矩阵将原始二维图像线性投影为一维测量向量,通过对一维测量向量的处理提取出＂猫眼＂效应目标信息,进而通过压缩感知理论的恢复算法重建仅包含＂猫眼＂目标的图像。对应于此算法亦提出了一种相应的激光主动成像探测系统,以获取主被动图像序列。应用此算法,将传统的基于原...     

Analysis of Chang’e-5 lunar core drilling process

Chang’e-5 explorer successfully acquired lunar regolith core samples from depths of greater than 1 m of lunar surface. This study analyzed the lunar core drilling process based on the telemetry data, image information, and returned samples to optimize the sampling device design and enhance the understanding of the lunar regolith. In particular, a prediction method for the projected drilling path and local terrain fitting of drilling dip angle was proposed based on the flight events recorded during the core drilling process and the image information acquired before, during, and after sampling. The results revealed that the drilling dip angle of Chang’e-5 was approximately 2.3°, and the deviation of the drilling length and depth was less than 2 mm. For continuous drilling, a fusion method based on telemetry data and image information was applied to determine the demarcation point of drilling with and without the lunar soil. The position of the demarcation point implied that the drilling point remained at approximately 6 mm loose soil, thereby lagging the action of the force response. Additionally, a characteristic parameter comparison method was proposed for the lunar and ground drilling to analyze the status of the lunar soil. Furthermore, the analysis results revealed that the majority of the Chang’e-5 drilling samples were derived from 0–73.8 cm below the lunar surface and few samples were extracted below 73.8 cm, as the drilling encountered several rocky regions. Moreover, the drilling point exhibited two prominent stratification variations at ～28.7 cm and ～70 cm below the lunar surface. Ultimately, the preliminary relationship between sample dissected position in soft tube and drilling displacement was analyzed. The segmented estimation results can support research on subsurface lunar soil.     

Multi-state autonomous drilling for lunar exploration

Due to the lack of information of subsurface lunar regolith stratification which varies along depth, the drilling device may encounter lunar soil and lunar rock randomly in the drilling process. To meet the load safety requirements of unmanned sampling mission under limited orbital resources, the control strategy of autonomous drilling should adapt to the indeterminable lunar environments. Based on the analysis of two types of typical drilling media (i.e., lunar soil and lunar rock), this paper proposes a multi-state control strategy for autonomous lunar drilling. To represent the working circumstances in the lunar subsurface and reduce the complexity of the control algo-rithm, lunar drilling process was categorized into three drilling states:the interface detection, initi-ation of drilling parameters for recognition and drilling medium recognition. Support vector machine (SVM) and continuous wavelet transform were employed for the online recognition of dril-ling media and interface, respectively. Finite state machine was utilized to control the transition among different drilling states. To verify the effectiveness of the multi-state control strategy, drilling experiments were implemented with multi-layered drilling media constructed by lunar soil simulant and lunar rock simulant. The results reveal that the multi-state control method is capable of detect-ing drilling state variation and adjusting drilling parameters timely under vibration interferences. The multi-state control method provides a feasible reference for the control of extraterrestrial autonomous drilling.     

Influence of lunar regolith compressibility on sampling performance of thick wall spiral drills

A 2 m class robotic drill was sent to the Moon and successfully collected and returned regolith samples in late 2020 by China. It was a typical thick wall spiral drill (TWSD) with a hollow auger containing a complex coring system to retain subsurface regolith samples. Before the robotic drill was launched, a series of laboratory tests were carried out to investigate and predict the possible drilling loads it may encounter in the lunar environment. This work presents how the sampling performance of the TWSD is affected by the regolith compressibility. Experiments and analysis during the drilling and sampling process in a simulated lunar regolith environment were conducted. The compressibility of a typical lunar regolith simulant (LRS) was measured through uni-directional compression tests to study the relationship between its inner regolith stress and bulk density. A theoretical model was established to elucidate the cutting discharge behavior by auger flights based on the aforementioned relationship. Experiments were conducted with the LRS, and the results show that the sampling performance is greatly affected by the flux of the drilled cuttings into the spiral flight channels. This work helped in scheduling reasonable drilling parameters to promote the sampling performance of the robotic drill in the Chinese Chang'E 5 mission.     

Synthesis and characterization of geopolymer from lunar regolith simulant based on natural volcanic scoria

In this study, a new GVS（Ground Volcanic Scoria） lunar regolith simulant was produced. The similarity between GVS and lunar soil was proved by comparison with Apollo lunar soil samples and other commercial lunar soil simulants. Then, GVS lunar regolith simulant was investigated as the source material for preparing geopolymer to produce building material for lunar colony construction. To study the possibility of preparing geopolymer from GVS lunar regolith simulant and the optimum activator formu...     

Drilling load modeling and validation based on the filling rate of auger flute in planetary sampling

Some type of penetration into a subsurface is required in planetary sampling. Drilling and coring, due to its efficient penetrating and cuttings removal characteristics, has been widely applied in previous sampling missions. Given the complicated mechanical properties of a planetary regolith, suitable drilling parameters should be matched with different drilling formations properly. Otherwise, drilling faults caused by overloads could easily happen. Hence, it is necessary to estab-lish a drilling load model, which is able to reveal the relationships among drilling loads, an auger's structural parameters, soil's mechanical properties, and relevant drilling parameters. A concept for the filling rate of auger flute (FRAF) is proposed to describe drilling conditions. If the FRAF index under one group of drilling parameters is less than 1, this means that the auger flute currently removes cuttings smoothly. Otherwise, the auger will be choked with compressed cuttings. In dril-ling operations, the drilling loads on the auger mainly come from the conveyance action, while the drilling loads on the drill bit primarily come from the cutting action. Experiments in one typical lunar regolith simulant indicate that the estimated drilling loads based on the FRAF coincide with the test results quite well. Based on this drilling load model, drilling parameters have been opti-mized.     

Design and experimental performance verification of a thermal property test-bed for lunar drilling exploration

Chinese Chang'e lunar exploration project aims to collect and return subsurface lunar soil samples at a minimum penetration depth of 2 m in 2017. However, in contrast to those on the Earth, automated drilling and sampling missions on the Moon raise the risk of burning bits.Test-beds are required for testing the thermal properties of drill tools in a lunar environment. In this paper, a novel temperature measuring method based on thermocouples and a slip ring was proposed. Furthermore, a data acquisition system for a drilling process was designed. A vacuous,cryogenic, and anhydrous soil environment simulating the lunar surface was established. A drilling test-bed that can reach a depth of 2.2 m was developed. A control strategy based on online monitoring signals was proposed to improve the drilling performance. Vacuum and non-vacuum experiments were performed to test the temperature rising effect on drill tools. When compared with the non-vacuum experiment, the vacuum temperature rise resulted in a 12 °C increase. These experimental results provide significant support for Chinese lunar exploration missions.     

Mercury’s Weather-Beaten Surface: Understanding Mercury in the Context of Lunar and Asteroidal Space Weathering Studies

Mercury’s regolith, derived from the crustal bedrock, has been altered by a set of space weathering processes. Before we can interpret crustal composition, it is necessary to understand the nature of these surface alterations. The processes that space weather the surface are the same as those that form Mercury’s exosphere (micrometeoroid flux and solar wind interactions) and are moderated by the local space environment and the presence of a global magnetic field. To comprehend how space weathering acts on Mercury’s regolith, an understanding is needed of how contributing processes act as an interactive system. As no direct information (e.g., from returned samples) is available about how the system of space weathering affects Mercury’s regolith, we use as a basis for comparison the current understanding of these same processes on lunar and asteroidal regoliths as well as laboratory simulations. These comparisons suggest that Mercury’s regolith is overturned more frequently (though the characteristic surface time for a grain is unknown even relative to the lunar case), more than an order of magnitude more melt and vapor per unit time and unit area is produced by impact processes than on the Moon (creating a higher glass content via grain coatings and agglutinates), the degree of surface irradiation is comparable to or greater than that on the Moon, and photon irradiation is up to an order of magnitude greater (creating amorphous grain rims, chemically reducing the upper layers of grains to produce nanometer-scale particles of metallic iron, and depleting surface grains in volatile elements and alkali metals). The processes that chemically reduce the surface and produce nanometer-scale particles on Mercury are suggested to be more effective than similar processes on the Moon. Estimated abundances of nanometer-scale particles can account for Mercury’s dark surface relative to that of the Moon without requiring macroscopic grains of opaque minerals. The presence of nanometer-scale particles may also account for Mercury’s relatively featureless visible–near-infrared reflectance spectra. Characteristics of material returned from asteroid 25143 Itokawa demonstrate that this nanometer-scale material need not be pure iron, raising the possibility that the nanometer-scale material on Mercury may have a composition different from iron metal [such as (Fe,Mg)S]. The expected depletion of volatiles and particularly alkali metals from solar-wind interaction processes are inconsistent with the detection of sodium, potassium, and sulfur within the regolith. One plausible explanation invokes a larger fine fraction (grain size <45 μm) and more radiation-damaged grains than in the lunar surface material to create a regolith that is a more efficient reservoir for these volatiles. By this view the volatile elements detected are present not only within the grain structures, but also as adsorbates within the regolith and deposits on the surfaces of the regolith grains. The comparisons with findings from the Moon and asteroids provide a basis for predicting how compositional modifications induced by space weathering have affected Mercury’s surface composition.     

A Pre-Landing Assessment of Regolith Properties at the InSight Landing Site

This article discusses relevant physical properties of the regolith at the Mars InSight landing site as understood prior to landing of the spacecraft. InSight will land in the northern lowland plains of Mars, close to the equator, where the regolith is estimated to be \(\geq3\mbox{--}5~\mbox{m}\) thick. These investigations of physical properties have relied on data collected from Mars orbital measurements, previously collected lander and rover data, results of studies of data and samples from Apollo lunar missions, laboratory measurements on regolith simulants, and theoretical studies. The investigations include changes in properties with depth and temperature. Mechanical properties investigated include density, grain-size distribution, cohesion, and angle of internal friction. Thermophysical properties include thermal inertia, surface emissivity and albedo, thermal conductivity and diffusivity, and specific heat. Regolith elastic properties not only include parameters that control seismic wave velocities in the immediate vicinity of the Insight lander but also coupling of the lander and other potential noise sources to the InSight broadband seismometer. The related properties include Poisson’s ratio, P- and S-wave velocities, Young’s modulus, and seismic attenuation. Finally, mass diffusivity was investigated to estimate gas movements in the regolith driven by atmospheric pressure changes. Physical properties presented here are all to some degree speculative. However, they form a basis for interpretation of the early data to be returned from the InSight mission.     

Lunar Exploration Neutron Detector for the NASA Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter

The design of the Lunar Exploration Neutron Detector (LEND) experiment is presented, which was optimized to address several of the primary measurement requirements of NASA’s Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO): high spatial resolution hydrogen mapping of the Moon’s upper-most surface, identification of putative deposits of appreciable near-surface water ice in the Moon’s polar cold traps, and characterization of the human-relevant space radiation environment in lunar orbit. A comprehensive program of LEND instrument physical calibrations is discussed and the baseline scenario of LEND observations from the primary LRO lunar orbit is presented. LEND data products will be useful for determining the next stages of the emerging global lunar exploration program, and they will facilitate the study of the physics of hydrogen implantation and diffusion in the regolith, test the presence of water ice deposits in lunar cold polar traps, and investigate the role of neutrons within the radiation environment of the shallow lunar surface.