JP2934453B2 - Microgravity experiment equipment using aircraft - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Industrial Application Field] The present invention relates to an experimental apparatus used for a microgravity experiment using an aircraft which is performed for use in outer space.

[Prior Art] FIG. 4 shows a flight path of a general aircraft in a microgravity experiment using an aircraft. When the aircraft rises during normal flight, stops the engine and enters the ballistic flight state, the apparent acceleration in the aircraft (acceleration relative to the earth coordinate system minus gravitational acceleration) is very small, that is, almost zero gravity The microgravity state, which can be regarded as, lasts for several tens of seconds in the aircraft. The microgravity experiment is an experiment in which an experimental device is mounted on an aircraft and the above-mentioned apparent acceleration is extremely small.

FIG. 5 is an explanatory view of a method of performing a conventional microgravity experiment. 1 is an experimental device, 2 is an aircraft equipped with the device,
3 is an accelerometer fixed to the aircraft, P is a pilot, and Q is an operator of the experimental apparatus. The accelerometer 3
Is fixed to the aircraft and indicates the apparent acceleration. When this support becomes very small, it is considered that the aforementioned microgravity condition has occurred in the aircraft.

Conventionally, when conducting a microgravity experiment, the pilot P monitors the accelerometer 3 when moving from a normal flight to a ballistic flight, and the accelerometer indicates a value smaller than a target value (that is, the microgravity state has been reached). At the point in time), the operator was informed of the experiment operator Q, and at this time, the operator Q manually operated the experiment apparatus 1 to start the experiment. At the end of the experiment, the pilot P also monitors the accelerometer 3 and informs the operator Q when the acceleration instruction becomes larger than the target value (that is, when the normal state is reached). 1 was manually stopped.

FIG. 6 is a configuration diagram of the experimental apparatus 1 used for the above-described experiment. The experimental apparatus 1 consists a recording apparatus 1 _B to record the experimental procedure and experimental unit 1 _A.

[Problems to be solved by the invention]

In conventional zero-gravity experiments, it is the pilot's judgment whether or not the robot has entered a zero-gravity state.
High quality experiments could not be performed due to delays in judgment or transmission from the pilot to the operator. In particular, the problem of the delay is that even if the delay is 1 to 2 seconds, the microgravity state caused by the aircraft is originally only 20 to 30 seconds, which is a valuable time loss.

An object of the present invention is to provide a microgravity experiment apparatus which eliminates the above-mentioned drawbacks of the prior art and can automatically start and stop a microgravity experiment and eliminate time loss.

[Means for solving the problem]

The present invention has solved the above-mentioned problem, and has a calculator for calculating an apparent acceleration in an aircraft based on signals from acceleration sensors fixed in three orthogonal directions in an aircraft, and a reference value of the apparent acceleration. Setting device to set,
And comparing the apparent acceleration calculated by the calculator with the reference value of the apparent acceleration set in the setting device, and issuing an experiment start or experiment stop command signal to the experiment unit mounted on the aircraft. TECHNICAL FIELD The present invention relates to a microgravity experiment device using an aircraft, which is provided with a vessel.

[Action]

The apparent acceleration in the aircraft (the value obtained by subtracting the gravitational acceleration from the acceleration in the earth coordinate system) can be accurately determined because the calculator calculates based on the signals from the acceleration sensors installed in the three axial directions.

The reference value of the apparent acceleration set in the setting device is a limit value of an acceleration range that can be regarded as a state of microgravity, and is used as a reference for determining whether or not the state is microgravity.

The comparator automatically compares the apparent acceleration in the aircraft calculated by the calculator with the reference value of the apparent acceleration set in the setting unit to determine whether the gravity is microgravity.
If the calculated apparent acceleration becomes smaller than the set reference value of the apparent acceleration, it is regarded as a microgravity state and a command signal for starting the experiment is issued to the experimental unit, and the calculated apparent acceleration is set to the apparent acceleration. When the acceleration becomes larger than the reference value, an experiment stop command signal is issued to the experiment unit.

The experiment unit automatically starts or stops the experiment according to the above command signal.

〔Example〕

FIG. 1 shows a configuration diagram of an embodiment of the microgravity experiment device of the present invention, and FIG. 2 shows a layout diagram of the embodiment. In the figure, 10
Is a gravity-free experimental device, 10 _A is an experimental unit that automatically performs an experiment in response to an experiment start or experiment stop signal and automatically stops the experiment, 10 _B is a recording device, 11 _X , 11 _Y and 11 _Z are Acceleration sensors fixed in three orthogonal directions in the aircraft, respectively, 12 are the acceleration sensors 11 _X , 11 _Y and 1
1 Apparent accelerations G _X , G _Y and G in each axis direction sent from _{Z
Based on Z} , the magnitude G of the apparent acceleration in the aircraft
(Absolute value) Is an arithmetic unit obtained by This acceleration is obtained by subtracting the gravitational acceleration (vector) from the acceleration (vector) relating to the earth coordinate system. 13 is the reference value G for the limit value of apparent acceleration that can be regarded as microgravity.
setter for setting a _{The set,} said 14 calculator 12
A comparator 15 compares the apparent acceleration G obtained by the above with the reference value Gset _set by the setting unit 13, and 15 is a clock. For example, a value of 1/10 of the gravitational acceleration is _{set as} the value of G _set .

FIG. 3 is an operation explanatory view of the above embodiment. In the apparatus having the above configuration, if the comparator 14 determines that the calculated apparent acceleration G is smaller than the _set reference value _Gset , that is, if it determines that the state is regarded as microgravity, the comparator 14 performs an experiment. Send a signal to the unit 10 _A to start the experiment,
If the determination G is larger than G _{The set,} i.e. if deemed returned to the normal state, and sends a signal of the experiment stopped experimental unit 10 _A.

The experimental unit _10A is, for example, an experimental device for automatically manufacturing an alloy under microgravity, or an apparatus for automatically testing the ecology of an animal (for example, a carp) under microgravity. In the present embodiment, the contents of the experiment are not particularly limited, and any device that automatically performs an experiment under microgravity is applicable. The recording device 10
_{In B} , the output of the arithmetic unit 12, that is, the magnitude of the apparent acceleration is also recorded, and furthermore, the start signal from the comparator 14
15 is started, and the time data from the clock 15 is also recorded. In addition, arithmetic unit 12, comparator
The clock 15 is simply constituted by an electronic device or a microcomputer.

As described in detail above, the microgravity experimental apparatus of the present embodiment accurately detects the change in the apparent acceleration shown in FIG. 3 when the aircraft shifts from normal flight to ballistic flight and shifts to microgravity. The experiment can be started without any loss of time when the microgravity state is entered, and the experiment can be stopped immediately upon returning to the normal state, enabling efficient and high-quality microgravity experiments to be performed automatically. is there. In addition, since the magnitude of the apparent acceleration and the duration of the microgravity state can be recorded together, even when data is broken after the experiment, gravity correction, time change, etc. can be performed accurately, and precise experimental evaluation can be performed. Can be expected. In addition, since the acceleration sensors are provided in the three orthogonal directions, the magnitude of the apparent acceleration of the aircraft, that is, the experimental apparatus, can always be accurately detected regardless of the attitude of the aircraft, thereby improving the quality of the experiment.

〔The invention's effect〕

A microgravity experiment apparatus using an aircraft of the present invention is a computing unit that calculates an apparent acceleration in an aircraft based on signals from acceleration sensors fixed in three orthogonal directions in the aircraft, and calculates a reference value of the apparent acceleration. The setting unit to be set, and comparing the apparent acceleration calculated by the computing unit with the reference value of the apparent acceleration set in the setting unit, to start or stop the experiment in the experiment unit mounted on the aircraft. Since a comparator for issuing a command signal is provided, a microgravity experiment can be automatically performed without time loss.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of an embodiment of the microgravity experiment apparatus of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a layout diagram of the apparatus of the above embodiment, FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram of the operation of the above embodiment, and FIG. FIG. 5 is an explanatory view of a method of performing a conventional microgravity experiment, and FIG. 6 is a configuration diagram of a conventional experimental apparatus. 1 ... experimental device, 1 _A ... experimental unit, 1 _B ... recording device, 2 ... aircraft, 3 ... accelerometer, 10 ... microgravity experimental device, 10 _A ... experimental unit, 10 _B ... Recording device, 11 _X , 11 _Y , 11 _Z ... acceleration sensor, 12 ... arithmetic unit, 13 ... determiner, 14 ... comparator, 15 ... clock, P ... pilot, Q ... operator.

──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continuation of the front page (72) Inventor Takao Tojo 1-1-1, Wadazakicho, Hyogo-ku, Kobe City, Hyogo Prefecture Inside Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Ltd. Kobe Shipyard (56) References U) Japanese Utility Model Showa 64-5900 (JP, U) Japanese Utility Model Utility Model No. 2-15600 (JP, U) (58) Fields investigated (Int. Cl. ⁶ , DB name) B64G 7/00

Claims (1)

(57) [Claims] An arithmetic unit for calculating an apparent acceleration in an aircraft based on signals from acceleration sensors fixed in three orthogonal directions in an aircraft, a setting unit for setting a reference value of the apparent acceleration, and the arithmetic unit A comparator for comparing the apparent acceleration calculated by the device with the reference value of the apparent acceleration set in the setting device and issuing a command signal for starting or stopping the experiment to the experiment unit mounted on the aircraft. A microgravity experiment device using an aircraft, characterized in that: