An Active Z Gravity Compensation System

Abstract

To perform simulations of partial or microgravity environments on earth requires some method of compensation for the earth's gravitational field. This paper discusses an active compensation system that modulates the tension in a counterweight support cable in order to minimize state deviation between the compensated body and the ideal weightless body. The system effectively compensates for inertial effects of the counterweight mass, viscous damping of all pulleys, and static friction in all parts of the GC system using a hybrid PI/fuzzy control algorithm. The dynamic compensation of inertia and viscous damping is performed by PI control, while static friction compensation is performed by the fuzzy system. The system provides very precise gravity compensation force, and is capable of non-constant gravity force compensation in the case that the payload mass is not constant. The only additional hardware requirements needed for the implementation of this system on a passive counterweight balance system are: a strain gauge tension sensor, and a torque motor with encoder.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Jul 01, 1992
Accession Number
ADA255258

Entities

People

  • Greg White
  • Yangsheng Xu

Organizations

  • Carnegie Mellon University

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Air Platforms
  • Autonomy
  • Energy and Power Technologies

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Algorithms
  • Compensation
  • Computers
  • Control Systems
  • Differential Equations
  • Digital Computers
  • Environment
  • Equations
  • Frequency
  • Friction
  • Gages
  • Gravitational Fields
  • Gravity
  • Simulations
  • Space Environments
  • Strain Gages
  • Transfer Functions

Readers

  • Control Systems Engineering.
  • Electrical Engineering
  • Space Exploration and Orbital Mechanics.