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.     

强不确定系统“全系数之和等于1”的实现方法

摘要： 研究强不确定系统“全系数之和等于1”的实现方法,强不确定系统指的是系统的静态增益及其界不完全确知且范围较大.“全系数之和等于1”是吴宏鑫院士20世纪80年代发现的,该原理表明,对于未知连续系统,其离散化系统的系数的和在一定条件下是1.该原理的发现对于解决闭环辨识和自适应控制的瓶颈问题具有关键作用.“全系数之和等于1”是在一定条件下成立的.为了实现系统的“全系数之和等于1”,需要对系统进行一定的变换,以满足所需条件.其中,采用静态增益的标称值的倒数进行输入变换的方法在实际中得到了广泛应用.但是,当系统的不确定性较大时,该变换将带来较大偏差.针对该问题开展了深入研究,明确给出了系统静态增益的不确定性与标称值的比值的关系对于实现“全系数之和等于1”的影响.当不确定性与标称值的比值较小时,可以近似实现“全系数之和等于1”;当比值较大时,进一步给出了通过选取合适的采样周期,近似实现“全系数之和等于1”的方法.本文的研究对于特征模型理论在实际中的应用提供了一定的基础.     

Which way is the bookstore? A closer look at the judgments of relative directions task

We present a detailed analysis of a widely used assay in human spatial cognition, the judgments of relative direction (JRD) task. We conducted three experiments involving virtual navigation interspersed with the JRD task, and included confidence judgments and map drawing as additional metrics. We also present a technique for assessing the similarity of the cognitive representations underlying performance on the JRD and map-drawing tasks. Our results support the construct validity of the JRD task and its connection to allocentric representation. Additionally, we found that chance performance on the JRD task depends on the distribution of the angles of participants’ responses, rather than being constant and 90 degrees. Accordingly, we present a method for better determining chance performance.     

结合跳点引导的无人机随机搜索避撞决策方法

针对无人机在城市空域环境和密集交通流下的避撞决策问题,提出马尔科夫决策过程（MDP）和蒙特卡洛树搜索（MCTS）算法对该问题进行建模求解。蒙特卡洛树搜索算法在求解过程中为保证实时性而使其搜索深度受限,容易陷入局部最优,导致在含有静态障碍的场景中无法实现避撞的同时保证全局航迹最优。因此结合跳点搜索算法在全局规划上的优势,建立离散路径点引导无人机并改进奖励函数来权衡飞行路线,在进行动态避撞的同时实现对静态障碍的全局避撞。经过多个实验场景仿真,其结果表明改进后的算法均能在不同场景中获得更好的性能表现。特别是在凹形限飞区空域仿真模型中,改进后的算法相对于原始的蒙特卡洛树搜索算法,其冲突概率降低了36%并且飞行时间缩短47.8%。     

Online scheduling of distributed Earth observation satellite system under rigid communication constraints

This paper focused on online scheduling of distributed Earth observation satellite system in a dynamic environment. The objective was to maximize the total profit of the overall system by efficiently coordinating the different satellites with stochastic arrival of urgent tasks, subject to rigid communication and observation time window constraints. We formulated this problem as a single-task, single-robot, time-extended assignment problem with intra-schedule dependency using the multi-robot task assignment taxonomy and formulated the sub-problem after releasing urgent tasks in a mixed-integer linear programming model. We first described the online scheduling algorithm for a single satellite, then we proposed the modified consensus-based bundle algorithm (m-CBBA) and modified asynchronous consensus-based bundle algorithm (m-ACBBA) with synchronous and asynchronous communication, respectively. Compared with initial versions of CBBA and ACBBA, the modified versions added the communication loop prediction phases to efficiently utilize scarce communication opportunities and reduce the communication requirements. Additionally, we introduce two contract net protocol (CNP)-based algorithms for comparison, respectively SingleItem-CNP-based (SI-CNP) algorithm and Batch-CNP-based (BA-CNP) algorithm. Computational experiments indicated that both the total profit and percentage of scheduled urgent tasks achieved by the m-ACBBA and m-CBBA algorithms were much higher than those achieved by both SI-CNP and BA-CNP. Additionally, the number of communications needed by either m-ACBBA or m-CBBA algorithm was lower than that by SI-CNP. When the communication cost in the system is high, the m-CBBA algorithm is preferred because it balances the profit and the required number of communications. When the communication cost is low, the m-ACBBA algorithm is preferred because it achieves high total profit and high percentage of scheduled urgent tasks.     

Semi-annual variations of chlorophyll concentration on the Eastern Tropical Pacific coast of Mexico

An analysis of the main remotly sensed oceanographic variables was conducted to characterize the dominant drivers that modulate the spatial-temporal variability of coastal phytoplankton biomass in the northern limit of the Eastern Tropical Pacific. The phytoplankton biomass was analyzed using monthly average satellite chlorophyll (Chlo) concentration data from MODIS sensors for the period 2003–2017. Oceanographic conditions were analyzed by considering (i) Sea Surface Temperature (SST) high-resolution data from the GHRSST project, (ii) wind stress calculated with data from the zonal and meridional components of the CCMP product, (iii) climatological precipitation, and (iv) climatological river flow. Chlo time series and spatial variability were analyzed using Hovmöller diagrams and Empirical Orthogonal Functions (EOF), respectively. A strong semi-annual signal in Chlo concentration along the coast was observed: the first peak occurs in winter-spring (5.0 mg·m⁻³) and a second one in summer-autumn (6.5 mg·m⁻³). A high year-round average of Chlo concentration (3.0–15.0 mg·m⁻³) was maintained by a 10 km wide along-shore coast, with maximum values spatially associated with river mouths, of which Santiago river registered the highest Chlo values (20.0 mg·m⁻³). Surface oceanographic conditions showed a marked annual cycle with warmer conditions (30–31 °C) from July to October and colder ones (23–24 °C) from December to April; during the cold period, seasonal wind stress stimulated coastal upwelling. The EOF showed that 70% of Chlo concentration variability was controlled by the semi-annual pattern, which responded to coastal upwelling conditions during cold period, while rivers outflows influenced high Chlo concentration during the warm period. These results highlighted the importance for land-ocean interface to sustain coastal ecosystems' biological production and the major role of watersheds as sources of nutrients to maintain high biological production during warm periods in transitional tropical-subtropical zones.     

GNSS观测数据ZTD建模的质量控制方法

针对目前基于GNSS观测数据的对流层天顶总延迟(ZTD)模型缺乏有效质量控制手段的现状,提出了一套综合考虑数据量、网格分辨率以及模型稳定性的ZTD建模质量控制方法,并采用内华达大地测量实验室(NGL)解算的高空间分辨率GNSS对流层数据,选取了近十年德国及周边区域[47°N-55°N,5°E-15°E]183个测站的实测ZTD,对该方法进行了校验。实验结果表明:在该质量控制方法下建立的新模型精度稳定,平均均方根误差(RMS)为3.4 cm,相对于UNB3m、EGNOS、GPT2w+Saas平均改善了42.4%、35.8%、33.3%。本文提出的质量控制方法有效提升了基于GNSS观测数据的ZTD模型的性能,对于ZTD建模研究具有一定的参考价值。     

热力学排气系统中节流效应及其冷量利用分析

为更好地理解热力学排气系统(TVS)的运行机理,优化其运行参数,针对节流装置,建立了热力学模型,讨论了节流过程中状态参数的变化规律,对比了单相气体、单相液体节流的性能特性,进一步揭示了焦汤节流效应的原理,分析了不同节流背压下节流前低温工质(液氢和液氧)压力和温度对节流性能的影响,并结合TVS实际应用,阐述了节流最大制冷量的利用效果,提出了优化的TVS工作区间。研究表明：在节流过程不发生相变情况下单相气体节流制冷效应要比单相液体节流制冷效应更加显著;而在节流过程发生相变情况下液体节流至两相后,由于空化吸热导致流体温度降低,对于液氢,0.5MPa的压降可产生接近3 K的温降。对于液体节流,节流前压力对节流过程影响可忽略,〖JP2〗而节流前温度和节流背压对节流过程起主导作用;对于液氢在在轨运行工况下,考虑到节流制冷量的充分利用,同时保证换热过程体积含气率不高于90%,推荐TVS系统中节流背压范围为75～143 kPa。     

An empirical solar radiation pressure model for satellites moving in the orbit-normal mode

We present a family of empirical solar radiation pressure (SRP) models suited for satellites orbiting the Earth in the orbit normal (ON) mode. The proposed ECOM-TB model describes the SRP accelerations in the so-called terminator coordinate system. The choice of the coordinate system and the SRP parametrization is based on theoretical assumptions and on simulation results with a QZS-1-like box-wing model, where the SRP accelerations acting on the solar panels and on the box are assessed separately. The new SRP model takes into account that in ON-mode the incident angle of the solar radiation on the solar panels is not constant like in the yaw-steering (YS) attitude mode. It depends on the elevation angle of the Sun above the satellite’s orbital plane. The resulting SRP vector acts, therefore, not only in the Sun-satellite direction, but has also a component normal to it. Both components are changing as a function of the incident angle. ECOM-TB has been used for precise orbit determination (POD) for QZS-1 and BeiDou2 (BDS2) satellites in medium (MEO) and inclined geosynchronous Earth orbits (IGSO) based on IGS MGEX data from 2014 and 2015. The resulting orbits have been validated with SLR, long-arc orbit fits, orbit misclosures, and by the satellite clock corrections based on the orbits. The validation results confirm that—compared to ECOM2—ECOM-TB significantly (factor 3–4) improves the POD of QZS-1 in ON-mode for orbits with different arc lengths (one, three, and five days). Moderate orbit improvements are achieved for BDS2 MEO satellites—especially if ECOM-TB is supported by pseudo-stochastic pulses (the model is then called ECOM-TBP). For BDS2 IGSOs, ECOM-TB with its 9 SRP parameters appears to be over-parameterized. For use with BDS2 IGSO spacecraft we therefore developed a minimized model version called ECOM-TBMP, which is based on the same axis decomposition as ECOM-TB, but has only 2 SRP parameters and is supported by pseudo-stochastic parameters, as well. This model shows a similar performance as ECOM-TB with short arcs, but an improved performance with (3-day) long-arcs. The new SRP models have been activated in CODE’s IGS MGEX solution in Summer 2018. Like the other ECOM models the ECOM-TB derivatives might be used together with an a priori model.     

Establishment of atmospheric weighted mean temperature model in the polar regions

Due to the special geographical location and extreme climate environment, the polar regions (Antarctic and Arctic) have an important impact on global climate change. Atmospheric weighted mean temperature (Tm) is a crucial parameter in the retrieval of precipitable water vapor (PWV) from the zenith wet delay (ZWD) of ground-based Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) signal propagation. In this paper, the correlation between weighted mean temperature and surface temperature (Ts) is studied firstly. It is shown that the correlation coefficients between Tm and Ts are 0.93 in the Antarctic and 0.94 in the Arctic. The linear regression Tm model and quadratic function Tm model of the Antarctic and the Arctic are established respectively using the radiosonde profiles of 12 stations in the Antarctic and 58 stations in the Arctic from 2008 to 2015. The accuracies of the linear regression Tm model, the quadratic function Tm model and GPT2w Tm model which is a state-of-the-art global Tm model are verified using the radiosonde profiles from 2016 to 2018 in the Antarctic and Arctic. Root Mean Square (RMS) errors of the linear regression Tm model, the quadratic function Tm model and GPT2w Tm model in the Antarctic are 3.07 K, 2.87 K and 4.32 K respectively, and those in the Arctic are 3.53 K, 3.38 K and 4.82 K, which indicates that the quadratic function Tm model has a higher accuracy compared to linear regression Tm model, and the accuracies of the two regional Tm models are better than that of GPT2w Tm model in the polar regions. In order to better evaluate the accuracy of Tm in the PWV retrieval, the PWV values of radiosondes are used for comparisons as the reference value. The RMS errors of PWV derived from the two Tm models are similar for 1.28 mm in the Antarctic and 1 mm in the Arctic respectively. In addition, the spatial and temporal variation characteristics of Tm are analyzed in the polar regions by spectral analysis of Tm data using fast Fourier transform. The results show that the Tm has obvious seasonality and annual periodicity in the polar regions, and the maximum difference between warm season and cold season is about 63 K. After comparing and analyzing the influences of latitude, longitude and elevation on the Tm in the polar regions, it is found that latitude and elevation have a greater influence on the Tm than the longitude. As the latitude and elevation increase, the Tm decreases, and vice versa in the polar regions.