Abstract
China’s first Mars probe, the Tianwen-1, successfully landed on the Martian Utopia Plain on May 15, 2021. The multi-functional obstacle avoidance sensor (MOAS) has been the key navigation equipment for the entry, descent, and landing (EDL) operation of Tianwen-1. The MOAS integrates a landing camera and a laser imaging module and can acquire sequential optical images of the landing process of Tianwen-1 and high-resolution topography of the Martian surface. As a navigation sensor, the MOAS plays a key role in the processes of back cover avoidance, coarse obstacle avoidance, and hovering fine obstacle avoidance from the height of 10 km to landing. The MOAS’s laser imaging module uses a new-generation scanning component, a two-dimensional MEMS scanning mirror, which is a unique feature compared to other space lidars. In this paper, optical and electronic designs of the MOAS are analyzed in detail. Based on the open-loop control feature of a MEMS scanning mirror, an online training and calibration method is proposed to increase the accuracy of optical angle control to 0.02°. In addition, the ground performance validation and the space environment testing of MOAS are described in detail. The inflight performance of MOAS is evaluated based on the sequential camera images and 3D point cloud data. In addition, the MOAS combines the attributes of a scientific instrument. The images obtained by the sensor can reconstruct the descending trajectory of Tianwen-1, determine accurate landing coordinates, and acquire information on the topography, surface reflectivity, and sand and dust of Mars.
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Abbreviations
- APD:
-
avalanche photodiode
- MOAS:
-
multifunction obstacle avoidance sensor
- LVDS:
-
low voltage differential signal
- MEMS:
-
micro electro-mechanical system
- OLA:
-
OSIRIS-REx laser altimeter
- CFD:
-
constant fraction discriminator
- EDL:
-
entry, descent, and landing
- DEM:
-
digital elevation map
- GNC:
-
guidance navigation control
- LVS:
-
lander vision system
- LCAM:
-
LVS camera
- MARDI:
-
Mars descent imager
- NaTeCam:
-
navigation and terrain camera
- CNSA:
-
China National Space Administration
- HiRIC:
-
high-resolution imaging camera
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Acknowledgements
The authors would also like to express special thanks to Tongji University for on-site experimental support and data analysis.
Funding
The research presented in this work was supported by the Beijing Science and Technology Nova Program (Z211100002121076), the National Natural Science Foundation of China (51905034, 52275083), and the National Key Research and Development Program (2021YFB3203100).
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All authors contributed to the study conception and design. Material preparation, engineering development, data collection and analysis were performed by Feihu Zhu, Yunfang Zhang, Yan Zheng, Shaogang Guo, Baocheng Hua, Yang Liu, Fenzhi Wu, Lin Li, Jianfeng Chen, Chao Dong, Chenglong Zhang, Yanxu Hu, Zhe Cao, Shuai Hong, Xiaolei Wang, Li Wang. The manuscript was written and edited by Feihu Zhu, Yunfang Zhang, Yan Zheng, Lin Li and Li Wang. This work was overall supervised by Feihu Zhu and Li Wang. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.
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Note by the Editor: This is a Special Communication linked to the topical collection on the Huoxing-1 (HX-1) / Tianwen-1 (TW-1) mission published in Space Science Reviews. In addition to invited review papers and topical collections, Space Science Reviews publishes unsolicited Special Communications. These are papers linked to an earlier topical volume/collection, report-type papers, or timely papers dealing with a strong space-science-technology combination (such papers summarize the science and technology of an instrument or mission in one paper).
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Zhu, F., Zhang, Y., Zheng, Y. et al. Design and Verification of Multi-Functional Obstacle Avoidance Sensor for the Tianwen-1 Mars Probe. Space Sci Rev 219, 42 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11214-023-00986-8
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11214-023-00986-8