Internal reference frames for representation and storage of visual information: the role of gravity.

Experimental studies of visual mechanisms suggests that the CNS represents image information with respect to preferred horizontal and vertical axes, as shown by a phenomenon known as the "oblique effect". In the current study we used this effect to evaluate the influence of gravity on the representation and storage of visual orientation information. Subjects performed a psychophysical task in which a visually-presented stimulus line was aligned with the remembered orientation of a reference stimulus line presented moments before. The experiments were made on 5 cosmonauts during orbital space flight and additionally on 13 subjects in conditions of normal gravity with a tilting chair. Data were analyzed with respect to response variability and timing. On earth, these measurements for this task show a distinct preference for horizontally and vertically oriented stimuli when the body and gravitational axes were aligned. This preference was markedly decreased or disappeared when the body axis was tilted with respect to gravity; this effect was not connected with ocular counter-rolling nor could we find a preference of any other intermediate axis between the gravity and body aligned axes. On the other hand, the preference for vertical and horizontal axes was maintained for tests performed in microgravity over the course of a 6 month flight, starting from flight day 6. We concluded that subjects normally process visual orientation information in a multi-modal reference frame that combines both proprioceptive and gravitational cues when both are available, but that a proprioceptive reference frame is sufficient for this task in the absence of gravity after a short period of adaptation. Some of the results from this study have been previously published in a preliminary report. Grant numbers: 99-04-48450.     

Influence of graviceptives cues at different level of visual information processing: the effect of prolonged weightlessness

We evaluated the influence of prolonged weightlessness on the performance of visual tasks in the course of the Russian-French missions ANTARES, Post-ANTARES and ALTAIR aboard the MIR station. Eight cosmonauts were subjects in two experiments executed pre-flight, in-flight and post-flight sessions.

In the first experiment, cosmonauts performed a task of symmetry detection in 2-D polygons. The results indicate that this detection is locked in a head retinal reference frame rather than in an environmentally defined one as meridional orientations of symmetry axis (vertical and horizontal) elicited faster response times than oblique ones. However, in weightlessness the saliency of a retinally vertical axis of symmetry is no longer significantly different from an horizontal axis. In the second experiment, cosmonauts performed a mental rotation task in which they judged whether two 3-D objects presented in different orientations were identical. Performance on this task is basically identical in weightlessness and normal gravity.     

转台高精度模拟卫星三轴角速度解耦算法研究

针对传统法解决转台解耦问题存在的不足,将欧拉角速度转为陀螺角速度,地球自转作为转动激励,提出了一种新的转台解耦方法。对框角解耦算法以及卫星三轴与转台三轴不同关系条件下的转台改进算法进行了仿真。结果表明:用转台模拟卫星欧拉姿态角时,应尽量避免中内框夹角过小;卫星稳态运行时,转台的内外框分别模拟卫星的俯仰、偏航轴。转台不会产生接近奇异的现象。     

The effect of the configuration and the interior design of a virtual weightless space station on human spatial orientation

In a virtual weightless environment, subjects’ orientation skills were studied to examine what kind of cognitive errors people make when they moved through the interior space of virtual space stations and what kind of visual information effectively decreases those errors. Subjects wearing a head-mounted display moved from one end to the other end in space station-like routes constructed of rectangular and cubical modules, and did Pointing and Modeling tasks. In Experiment 1, configurations of the routes were changed with such variables as the number of bends, the number of embedding planes, and the number of planes with respect to the body posture. The results indicated that spatial orientation ability was relevant to the variables and that orientational errors were explained by two causes. One of these was that the place, the direction, and the sequence of turns were incorrect. The other was that subjects did not recognize the rotation of the frame of reference, especially when they turned in pitch direction rather than in yaw. In Experiment 2, the effect of the interior design was examined by testing three design settings. Wall colors that showed the allocentric frame of reference and the different interior design of vertical and horizontal modules were effective; however, there was a limit to the effectiveness in complicated configurations.     

基于地轴矢量解算的SINS无纬度支持自对准方法

针对无纬度条件下SINS初始对准问题,提出了一种基于地轴矢量解算的对准方法。在静止基座下,利用陀螺仪敏感地轴矢量,直接建立导航系轴向矢量在载体系的正交投影,解析式确定姿态矩阵;晃动基座条件下,根据惯性系重力矢量观测,构建以地轴矢量为旋转轴的两组等角旋转矢量序列,利用QUEST算法求解旋转四元数实现对地轴矢量的优化解算,并以此建立导航系轴向矢量的载体惯性系投影,最后利用陀螺跟踪载体系相对惯性系的变化,确定载体系相对导航系的姿态关系。静止基座解算实验表明直接解析式对准与传统的解析式对准精度相当,但解算效率得到了提高;晃动基座仿真与船载实验均表明基于四元数的地轴矢量优化解算在精度上要优于三矢量几何解算方法,引入低通滤波环节后,对准精度进一步提高。     

Artificial gravity: head movements during short-radius centrifugation.

Short-radius centrifugation is a potential countermeasure to long-term weightlessness. Unfortunately, head movements in a rotating environment induce serious discomfort, non-compensatory vestibulo-ocular reflexes, and subjective illusions of body tilt. In two experiments we investigated the effects of pitch and yaw head movements in participants placed supine on a rotating bed with their head at the center of rotation, feet at the rim. The vast majority of participants experienced motion sickness, inappropriate vertical nystagmus and illusory tilt and roll as predicted by a semicircular canal model. However, a small but significant number of the 28 participants experienced tilt in the predicted plane but in the opposite direction. Heart rate was elevated following one-second duration head turns. Significant adaptation occurred following a series of head turns in the light. Vertical nystagmus, motion sickness and illusory tilt all decreased with adaptation. Consequences for artificial gravity produced by short-radius centrifuges as a countermeasure are discussed. Grant numbers: NCC 9-58.     

Polyhedron tracking and gravity tractor asteroid deflection

In the wake of the Chelyabinsk airburst, the defense against hazardous asteroids is becoming a topic of high interest. This work improves the gravity tractor asteroid deflection approach by tracking realistic small body shapes with tilted ion engines. An algorithm for polyhedron tracking was evaluated in a fictitious impact scenario. The simulations suggest a capability increase up to 38.2% with such improved tilting strategies. The long- and short-term effects within polyhedron tracking are illustrated. In particular, the orbital reorientation effect is influential when realistic asteroid shapes and rotations are accounted for. Also analyzed is the subject of altitude profiles, a way to tailor the gravity tractor performance, and to achieve a steering ability within the B-plane. A novel analytical solution for the classic gravity tractor is derived. It removes the simulation need for classic tractor designs to obtain comparable two body model Δv$\mathrm{\Delta }v$ figures. This paper corroborates that the asteroid shape can be exploited for maximum performance. Even a single engine tilt adjustment at the beginning of deflection operations yields more deflection than a fixed preset tilt.     

Unloading law for a LEO spacecraft with two-gimbals solar array

The purpose of this paper is to present a modified cross-product unloading law that can be used to provide an open-loop compensation control design to counteract the predominant effects of the gravity gradient torque. The modified cross-product unloading law, is successfully applied to a three-axis stabilized, nadir-pointed LEO spacecraft with two-gimbals solar array. The variation of the two solar array orientations can significantly change the spacecraft's moment of inertia during the nominal operation mode, which can produce significant momentum accumulation in the roll–yaw body plane and cause large yaw pointing error. A rigorous study of momentum management performance capability has been conducted by using a high-fidelity performance simulation software that contains models of four environmental disturbance torque (gravity gradient, aerodynamic, solar, and magnetic). The simulation results show that the proposed momentum unloading control law has enabled a substantial reduction in the maximum accumulated roll momentum, which results in improving the pointing accuracy of the LEO spacecraft enormously.     

基于偏振光及重力的辅助定姿方法研究

提出了一种以太阳方向矢量为基准的偏振光导航方法,该方法利用太阳方向矢量物理意义明确的特点,消除了直接利用偏振光进行导航定向时存在的180°模糊性问题。为完全观测载体姿态,同时引入了重力观测量,提出了利用偏振光及重力矢量联合辅助定姿的方法,并详细推导了该方法的观测方程,同时给出了当姿态误差较小时,观测方程的简化线性形式。利用该姿态观测方程,设计了基于偏振光及重力辅助定姿的偏振光/GPS/SINS组合导航算法。理论分析及仿真表明,通过引入偏振光及重力矢量进行辅助定姿,导航系统可以直接观测载体的平台姿态误差,进而增强了系统对载体姿态的估计性能,且使得组合导航系统可以完成大初始姿态误差时的导航任务。     

一种提高导航卫星星座自主定轨精度的方法研究

针对近地导航卫星仅利用星间测距进行自主定轨时,因无法消除星座整体旋转误差而导致长期自主定轨精度不高的问题,提出了利用拉格朗日导航卫星星座与近地导航卫星星座联合仅利用星间测距进行自主定轨的方法。建立了拉格朗日轨道导航卫星星座和近地导航卫星星座联合仅利用星间测距进行自主定轨的动力学模型和观测模型。利用扩展Kalman滤波（EKF）算法和星间测距信息实现了拉格朗日轨道导航星座与近地导航星座的长期自主定轨。以4颗拉格朗日卫星组成的导航星座与12颗GPS卫星组成的近地导航星座作为仿真对象进行了仿真分析,仿真结果表明本文仅利用星间测距的联合自主定轨方法可以有效提高导航卫星星座的长期自主定轨精度。
     

基于惯性系的双轴旋转式惯导系统转位方法

针对双轴旋转式惯导系统中不能自动补偿标度因数误差与地球自转耦合误差的问题,提出了一种改进的转位方法。该方法不增加转轴数目,通过补偿地球自转在转轴平面的投影抑制耦合误差项,计算结果表明该方法适用于激光陀螺惯导系统和光纤陀螺惯导系统。利用改进的转位方法对双轴旋转式惯导系统进行仿真,仿真结果验证了该方法的可行性。研究结果为双轴旋转式惯导系统的工程设计和改进提供了一定的理论支持。     

Voluntary head stabilization in space during trunk movements in weightlessness

The ability to voluntarily stabilize the head in space during lateral rhythmic oscillations of the trunk has been investigated during parabolic flights. Five healthy young subjects, who gave informed consent, were examined. The movements were performed with eyes open or eyes closed, either during phases of microgravity or phases of normal gravity. The main result to emerge from this study is that the head may be stabilized in space about the roll axis under microgravity conditions with, as well as without vision, despite the reduction of the vestibular afferent and the muscle proprioceptive inputs. Moreover, the absence of head stabilization about the yaw axis confirms that the degrees of freedom of the neck can be independently controlled, as it was previously shown [1]. These results seem to indicate that voluntary head stabilization does not depend crucially upon static vestibular afferents. Head stabilization in space may be in fact organized on the basis of either dynamic vestibular afferents or a postural body scheme.     

多体卫星地面物理仿真的一致性研究

三轴气浮台不能直接用于多体卫星的地面物理仿真实验,这是由于部件转动引起台体 的质心变化,进而产生重力静不平衡力矩,使仿真过程无法进行,因此需要质心补偿系统对 气浮台的重力静不平衡力矩进行补偿。本文通过对多体卫星动力学和气浮台动力学的比较, 分析了在重力场中的地面物理仿真系统与真实卫星的动力学特性的不同点,给出地面物理仿 真系统能完全模拟真实卫星运动的一致性条件,并进行了数学仿真。当转动附件的质心在转 动轴或转动中心上时,气浮台系统可以完全模拟卫星系统的质量特性和力学耦合特性,否则 ,多体气浮台系统和多体卫星系统的动力学耦合特性不完全一致,需要采取一定的方法进行 补偿。
     

Convection of liquid with internal heat release in a rotating container

The convection of heat-generating fluid in a rotating horizontal cylinder is experimentally investigated. The threshold of convection excitation, the structure of convective flows and the heat transfer in the cylinder depending on the heat release capacity, liquid viscosity and aspect ratio of the cavity are studied. It is found that the average convection is excited by the thermovibrational mechanism —the gravity force, rotating in the cavity frame, produces the oscillations of non-isothermal fluid relative to the wall, which in turn result in excitation of mean convective flows. It is shown that the structure of convective flows depends on the dimensionless velocity of rotation. At relatively low rotation velocity the convection develops in the form of a periodic system of vortices regularly distributed along the cylinder axis. The threshold of excitation (critical value of vibration parameter) of three-dimensional vortex structures grows with rotation velocity. Above some definite rotation velocity the convection develops as two-dimensional rolls parallel to the axis of rotation. The threshold of two-dimensional structures excitation does not depend on the rotation velocity. Besides the structure of thermal convective flows the analysis of the relatively weak currents generated by the inertial waves below the threshold of convection is performed.     

基于遥测数据的射前惯性测量系统稳定性检测方法

地地导弹惯性测量系统的稳定性直接影响导弹惯性导航系统导航的准确程度。介绍利用导弹射前的遥测数据及惯性测量系统误差补偿模型计算重力加速度和地球自转角速度方法,通过比较计算出的重力加速度和地球自转角速度与当地的实际值,检验惯性测量系统的稳定性,试验验证了该方法的正确性。     

全球星摄动运动及摄动补偿运控策略研究

绕地卫星摄动运动是导致星座设计构型发散的主要因素,摄动补偿轨道控制是维持全     

运载火箭三级无动力飞行段晃动稳定性研究

对某运载火箭三级无动力飞行段偏航通道晃动的不稳定现象进行了研究。在贮箱内推进剂沉底的条件下，采用等效弹簧．质量晃动模型，通过晃动方程的推导，证明了液体晃动只与火箭飞行中的惯性力有关，而与重力无关。由此认为偏航通道晃动不稳定是虚假的，适当修改偏航通道晃动方程形式，就可以解决偏航通道晃动不稳定问题。     

Mental Object Rotation and Egocentric Body Transformation: Two Dissociable Processes?

An important question in studies on mental rotation is whether the mental object rotation and the egocentric body transformation rely on dissociable mechanisms. We tested non-dancers and professional dancers as experts in the mental object rotation task (MORT, 3D-cubes used by Shepard & Metzler, 1971) and the mental body transformation task (MBRT, line drawings of human bodies similar to those used by Parsons, 1987). The cubes and body figures were presented in exactly the same rotation conditions; in the picture plane, 0 degree, 45 degrees, 90 degrees, 135 degrees, and 180 degrees, and in combination with a rotation in depth, 0 degree (the stimuli are rotated in the picture plane only) and 180 degrees. We could replicate the linear increase in RT with increasing angle for the cubes whereas the RT for rotated body figures increased for not depth-rotated bodies only (back view). Though, the RTs for inverted body figures were faster when they were rotated in depth (front view) compared to when they were rotated in the picture plane only (back view). This finding suggests that participants use different strategies depending on the perceived orientation of the stimulus. The results indicate impaired performance in the MORT for the experts.     

一种近地航天器脉冲星地固系动力学定轨方法

为改善近地航天器脉冲星导航的定轨精度,设计一种地固系动力学定轨方法。该方法结合了更精确的地球引力场模型,在求地球引力势梯度基础上引入惯性力,建立了地固系下轨道动力学方程;并结合脉冲相位量测,使用扩展卡尔曼滤波实现航天器轨道参数实时估计。此方法可以降低动力学方程非线性度,尤其适用于地球静止轨道卫星。通过数学仿真校验了新方法的有效性与精度。     

Monitoring Object Orientation: Effects of Layout Complexity,Viewpoint Changes,and Object Function

Spatial short-term memory for single target positions is subject to distortions which depend on the spatial layout of visual landmarks. Here, participants had to reproduce the positions of briefly presented targets in the context of three-landmark configurations presented in various orientations. Symmetry properties of distortional patterns were determined by the intrinsic reference system of the landmark configuration as well as by the environment-or body-centered vertical axis. Symmetry was best about the cardinal axes of the landmark system irrespective of their orientation, but symmetry of non-cardinal axes was enhanced when these axes were aligned with the extrinsic vertical. Results are inconsistent with most current models of spatial memory distortions but in line with models explaining distortions in terms of attentional processes in topographical neuronal networks.