The research of an acceleration method for a space microgravity simulator

Abstract

The space microgravity simulator could be used to realize the whole physical simulation of the aircraft control system, which is a kind of simulation method in the process of developing satellites and other spacecraft. The simulator is required for a certain initial velocity in orbit motion simulation. If the initial velocity is generated completely by the thrust of the simulator nozzle, it is necessary to consume more propellant in the simulator as well as reduce the working time of the simulator. The acceleration distance is too long due to the little thrust of the nozzle. Therefore the effective working space of the simulator is reduced for limited test level bed. In this paper, the method of pneumatic servo thrusting acceleration is used to accelerate the simulator. Precise rotary platform is adopted to adjust the thrusting angle which could be changed in a large range. A servo cylinder is acted for ejection of simulator with dual-acting and single output lever which is micro friction. Servo feedback control is realized with high precision non-contact absolute displacement sensor. The piecewise variable gain control is adopted to realize the speed control in a large speed range for precise displacement and velocity output. Thereby the space microgravity simulator could be widely used in high speed flight vehicle simulation.