Improving connection: MAI scientist creates a new scheme for space antenna
"Our scheme suggests using a cyclically symmetric umbrella antenna whose framework consists of flexible, non-stretchable radial rods connected along parallels by tensile cables. The number of rods can be anything - the more of them, the smoother the surface of the mesh is," says the MAI scientist. "In the initial state of transport, the multi-link rods are stacked in compact packages, which are held together by certainties. When this bond is removed, the rods are set in motion and the problem of deployment is solved. At the same time, a hydraulic damper is set in motion by pre-compressed springs, which ensures smooth movement of the antenna rod. At a certain rod position, when the root element of the radial rod has reached the stop and all rods are in a straight line position, the process of their deformation begins with simultaneous tensioning of the cable elements. In this way, a slow and smooth movement of all antenna components is ensured and the antenna is brought into working position, without any significant response from the spacecraft."In spite of the fact that today there are more than 50 patents on deployed antenna structures in space only in the Russian Federation, all of them either have no calculations, or their calculations were made on the computer, using applied software commercial complexes. Sergey Vladimirovich has created the general model of the aerial and universal calculation programs on the definition of its parameters in one of the languages of computer algebra. Moreover, he built two fundamentally different mathematical models for a different number of radial rods and the number of their constituent links - for the gently sloping antenna and for the case of a strong bend. All algorithms and models have been verified and tested for convergence and stability of calculations, and the accuracy of the resulting surface has been evaluated.
