A new modeling scheme for powered parafoil unmanned aerial vehicle platforms: Theory and experiments

A novel framework is established for accurate modeling of Powered Parafoil Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (PPUAV). The model is developed in the following three steps: obtaining a linear dynamic model, simplifying the model structure, and estimating the model mismatch due to model variance and external disturbance factors. First, a six degree-of-freedom linear model, or the structured model, is obtained through dynamic establishment and linearization. Second, the data correlation analysis is adopted to determine the criterion for proper model complexity and to simplify the structured model. Next, an active model is established, combining the simplified model with the model mismatch estimator. An adapted Kalman filter is utilized for the real-time estimation of states and model mismatch. We finally derive a linear system model while taking into account of model variance and external disturbance. Actual flight tests verify the effectiveness of our active model in different flight scenarios.     

Orbit determination of BDS-3 satellite based on regional ground tracking station and inter-satellite link observations

The BeiDou global navigation satellite system (BDS-3) has established the Ka-band inter-satellite link (ISL) to realize a two-way ranging function between satellites, which provides a new observation technology for the orbit determination of BDS-3 satellites. Therefore, this study presents a BDS satellite orbit determination model based on ground tracking station (GTS) observations and ISL ranging observations firstly to analyze the impact of the ISL ranging observations on the orbit determination of BDS-3 satellites. Subsequently, considering the data fusion processing, the variance component estimation (VCE) algorithm is applied to the parameter estimation process of the satellite orbit determination. Finally, using the measured data from China’s regional GTS observations and BDS-3 ISL ranging observations, the effects of ISL ranging observations on the orbit determination accuracy of BDS-3 satellites are analyzed. Moreover, the impact of the VCE algorithm on the fusion data processing is evaluated from the aspects of orbit determination accuracy, Ka-band hardware delay parameter stability, and ISL ranging observation residuals. The results show that for China’s regional GTSs, the addition of BDS-3 ISL ranging observations can significantly improve the orbit determination accuracy of BDS-3 satellites. The observed orbit determination accuracy of satellite radial component is improved from 48 cm to 4.1 cm. In addition, when the initial weight ratio between GTS observations and ISL ranging observations is not appropriate, the various indicators which include orbit determination accuracy, ISL hardware delay, and ISL observation residuals were observed to have improved after the adjustment of the VCE algorithm. These results validate the effectiveness of the VCE algorithm for the fusion data processing of the GTS observations and ISL ranging observations.     

Bayesian network-based extraction of lunar impact craters from optical images and DEM data

Impact craters are among the most noticeable geomorphological features on the planetary surface and yield significant information about terrain evolution and the history of the solar system. Thus, the recognition of impact craters is an important branch of modern planetary studies. Aiming at addressing problems associated with the insufficient and inaccurate detection of lunar impact craters, a decision fusion method within the Bayesian network (BN) framework is developed in this paper to handle multi-source information from both optical images and associated digital elevation model (DEM) data. First, we implement the edge-based method for efficiently searching crater candidates which are the image patches that can potentially contain impact craters. Secondly, the multi-source representations of an impact crater derived from both optical images and DEM data are proposed and constructed to quantitatively describe the two-dimensional (2D) and three-dimensional (3D) morphology, consisting of Histogram of Oriented Gradient (HOG), Histogram of Multi-scale Slope (HMS) and Histogram of Multi-scale Aspect (HMA). Finally, a BN-based framework integrates the multi-source representations of impact craters, which can provide reductant and complementary information, for distinguishing craters from non-craters. To evaluate the effectiveness and robustness of the proposed method, experiments were conducted on three lunar scenes using both orthoimages from the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) and DEM data acquired by the Lunar Orbiter Laser Altimeter (LOLA). Experimental results demonstrate that integrating optical images with DEM data significantly decreases the number of false positives compared with using optical images alone, with F₁-score of 84.8% on average. Moreover, compared with other existing fusion methods, our proposed method was quite advantageous especially for the detection of small-scale craters with diameters less than 1000 m.     

Direction finding for two-dimensional incoherently distributed sources with Hadamard shift invariance in non-uniform orthogonal arrays

This paper proposes a novel algorithm for Two-Dimensional (2D) central Direction-of-Arrival (DOA) estimation of incoherently distributed sources. In particular, an orthogonal array structure consisting of two Non-uniform Linear Arrays (NLAs) is considered. Based on first-order Taylor series approximation, the Generalized Array Manifold (GAM) model can first be established to separate the central DOAs from the original array manifold. Then, the Hadamard rotational invariance relationships inside the GAMs of two NLAs are identified. With the aid of such relationships, the central elevation and azimuth DOAs can be estimated through a search-free polynomial rooting method. Additionally, a simple parameter pairing of the estimated 2D angular parameters is also accomplished via the Hadamard rotational invariance relationship inside the GAM of the whole array. A secondary but important result is a derivation of closed-form expressions of the Cramer-Rao lower bound. The simulation results show that the proposed algorithm can achieve a remarkably higher precision at less complexity increment compared with the existing low-complexity methods, which benefits from the larger array aperture of the NLAs. Moreover, it requires no priori information about the angular distributed function.     

InfraRed Astronomy Satellite Swarm Interferometry (IRASSI): Overview and study results

The far-infrared (FIR) regime is one of the few wavelength ranges where no astronomical data with sub-arcsecond spatial resolution exist yet. Neither of the medium-term satellite projects like SPICA, Millimetron or OST will resolve this malady. For many research areas, however, information at high spatial and spectral resolution in the FIR, taken from atomic fine-structure lines, from highly excited carbon monoxide (CO) and especially from water lines would open the door for transformative science. These demands call for interferometric concepts. We present here first results of our feasibility study IRASSI (Infrared Astronomy Satellite Swarm Interferometry) for an FIR space interferometer. Extending on the principal concept of the previous study ESPRIT, it features heterodyne interferometry within a swarm of five satellite elements. The satellites can drift in and out within a range of several hundred meters, thereby achieving spatial resolutions of <0.1 arcsec over the whole wavelength range of 1–6 THz. Precise knowledge on the baselines will be ensured by metrology methods employing laser-based optical frequency combs, for which preliminary ground-based tests have been designed by members of our study team. We first give a motivation on how the science requirements translate into operational and design parameters for IRASSI. Our consortium has put much emphasis on the navigational aspects of such a free-flying swarm of satellites operating in relatively close vicinity. We hence present work on the formation geometry, the relative dynamics of the swarm, and aspects of our investigation towards attitude estimation. Furthermore, we discuss issues regarding the real-time capability of the autonomous relative positioning system, which is an important aspect for IRASSI where, due to the large raw data rates expected, the interferometric correlation has to be done onboard, in quasi-real-time. We also address questions regarding the spacecraft architecture and how a first thermomechanical model is used to study the effect of thermal perturbations on the spacecraft. This will have implications for the necessary internal calibration of the local tie between the laser metrology and the phase centres of the science signals and will ultimately affect the accuracy of the baseline estimations.     

无人飞行器集群仅测距初始相对位姿确定方法研究CSCD

针对全球导航卫星系统(GNSS)拒止环境下无人飞行器集群成员间的相对定位问题,研究了一种基于机载惯性测量单元(IMU)、气压高度计与数据链测距组合的初始相对位姿求解算法。首先,在高度计稳定输出较为精确的高度信息的前提下,将飞行器的三维运动解耦成二维水平运动,给出了三维加速度和角速度、测距信息的水平坐标系投影等效模型。在此基础上,以待求量相对位置和航向角的非线性形式构造了新的待求状态量,并将相对位置和航向角的非线性求解问题转化成了新状态量的线性模型最小二乘求解问题。然后,通过引入递推最小二乘算法(RLS),建立了该相对位姿求解算法的实时输出递推形式,有效降低了机载在线计算的负载。接着,对所提算法进行了可观测性分析,并给出了使系统状态量不可观测的几种相对运动形式。最后,对所提算法进行了数值仿真实验,仿真结果表明,该算法能够有效、快速求解初始相对位姿,位置误差在初始相对距离的10%以内,航向角误差在初始相对角度的1%以内。     

Passive localization by a single moving observer using TOA only with unknown SRI: Observability analysis and algorithm

Passive localization by a single moving observer using Time of Arrival (TOA) only with an unknown Signal Repetition Interval (SRI) is investigated in this paper. Observability analysis is performed first. The observability condition for uniquely determining the emitter position and SRI is derived. The conditional Cramer-Rao Lower Bound (CRLB) is also analyzed. It is found that the ambiguity of the SRI integer of the first TOA does not affect the theoretical estimation precision of the emitter position and SRI. A Reference-Fixed Differential TOA (RFDTOA)-based Iterative Maximum Likelihood Estimator (IMLE) is proposed, which only needs O(M) computational operations. Theoretical analysis and simulation results show that the Mean Square Error (MSE) of the proposed algorithm could attain the CRLB with moderate Gaussian measurement noise.     

基于交互多模估计策略的故障检诊方法

针对多模自适应（ＭＭＡＥ）故障检诊（ＦＤＤ）方法的局限性,提出了一种基于交互多模（ＩＭＭ）估计策略的动态系统中多重故障的检诊方法。交互多模估计是针对包含有结构以及参数的系统的一种效率较好的自适应估计技术,它提供了故障检测、诊断和状态估计的集中框架。通过对在传感器和作动器中含有多个故障飞机的仿真。结果表明,所提供的方法比其它方法能够更快、更可靠地检测和隔离出多重故障。     

利用GPS进行姿态估计的一种算法

首先建立了全球定位系统（ＧＰＳ）姿态确定的观测方程;然后给出了利用ＧＰＳ进行飞行器姿态估计的模型,并对该模型进行了线性处理;最后利用攻推广卡尔曼滤波技术,针对某飞行器进行了仿真计算。计算结果表明,对于不同的测量噪声和系统噪声,滤波器都有较好的估计,姿态估计的精度明显高于单纯ＧＰＳ姿态确定的精度,可以满足大多数飞行器对姿态确定的要求,证实了模型和算法可用性。     

最小二乘参数估计若干问题的讨论

讨论了最小二乘估计中应注意的几个问题,指出了最小二乘估计的一些新的研究和应用方向。