开发月球车用的月表环境的地面模拟方法研究

当前中国正在进行自己的探月工程,预计将会发射月球车登陆月球表面.在研制月球探测器过程中,为了在地面验证月球车的可靠性和各项功能(如着陆冲击、自主巡航和遥控),必须建立相应的地面试验中心.根据目前对月球表面环境的认识和现有的仿真技术,文章提出了实现月表综合环境模拟的试验设施的设想.由于月球表面环境非常恶劣并且月表的地形也非常复杂,文章提出了一种组合式月表环境模拟器的设想.主要部分是模拟各种月貌特征(如陨石坑、斜坡、沟壑等)的可移动单元.每个单元是一个用模拟月壤制作的小沙盘,其化学成分、组成颗粒分布和力学性能和已经获取的真实月壤样品相似.根据不同的试验要求,选择相应的单元按照一定的规律组合成为试验场.这样在有限的场地面积内可以按需实现对月表不同地域的地貌特征模拟.同时,可以选择少量单元的组合构成更小规模的试验场,以方便与其它环境模拟器(如落塔,热/真空容器等)联合,实现模拟月表的综合环境.

The experimental facility for lunar rover devlopmemt

The lunar exploration project of China is underway, and a lunar rover will be developed and launched onto the lunar surface in the next step. In order to verify the reliability and diverse functions (such as landing impact, autonomous navigation and tele-operation) of the rover, an experimental facility for the lunar rover development is needed. Based on the knowledge of the lunar surface environment and the existing simulation technology, this paper presents a scheme for realization of an integrated experimental facility for the lunar rover development. It is well known that the lunar environment is very tough and the moon geological feature is complicated. A kind of knockdown simulator for the lunar surface environment is suggested. The main part will include various mobile units, each of which simulates a kind of lunar surface topography in different dimensions, such as craters, hills, and ravines. One unit is one grid of small size in a sand table, which serves as the simulated lunar soil, with chemical compositions, particle size distributions, and engineering properties similar to the true lunar surface. According to the requirement of a certain kind of test, corresponding units or grids are selected and a test bed is assembled, which dynamically simulates a terrain on the lunar surface in a limited area. At the same time, a relative fewer units can be chosen to assemble a smaller test bed, which can be used together with other existing environmental simulators (for example, vacuum container, dropping tower) as an integrated environmental simulator.