Research on Vision-based Position Measurement System for Rocket Propellant Loading

State Key Laboratory of Robotics and System, Harbin Institute of Technology, Harbin, China

^a Corresponding author: taohan@stu.hit.edu.cn

Abstract

In the process of rocket propellant loading, the propellant's own gravity and wind pendulum may cause the connector to exert a large force on the rocket body, which may lead to connector disconnection and fuel leakage, or even damage to the rocket body. To improve the reliability and safety of rocket propellant loading, a position measurement system based on dynamic orientation detection alignment technology is proposed to achieve tracking of the rocket refueling port. In this paper, the two-dimensional position of the target in the camera plane is quickly extracted by identifying the direction of the target image and the size of the marker in the image, while the distance between the target and the camera is accurately obtained by a laser rangefinder. With this measurement solution, the deviation of the connector from the propellant filler port at the current moment can be modified in real time, thus reducing the forces on the rocket and increasing its launch reliability.