The ballistic free-fall absolute gravimeters are most commonly-used instruments for high-precision absolute gravity measurements in many fields, such as scientific research, resource survey, geophysics and so on. The instrumental recoil vibrations generated by the release of the test mass can cause troublesome systematic bias, because these vibrations are highly reproducible from drop to drop with coherent phase. A compound counterbalanced design of chamber using both belt-driven mechanism and cam-driven structure is proposed in this paper. This structure is designed to achieve excellent recoil compensation as well as long freefall length for high precision measurements. Simulation results show that the recoil vibration amplitude of the compound recoil-compensated structure during the drop is about 1/4 of that with only belt-driven counterbalanced structure. This confirms the feasibility and superiority of the new design. And it is believed that the absolute gravimeter based on this newly proposed chamber design is expected to obtain more precise gravity measurement results in the future.

The ballistic free-fall absolute gravimeters are widely used in acquiring information of gravity field and the self-vibration of the absolute gravimeter is crucial for high precision gravitational measurement. The self-vibration of the T-1 absolute gravimeter has a multi-directional full-band excitation. The resulted horizontal swing has the major impact, since the T-1 absolute gravimeter is simplified as a cantilever beam. A laser vibrometer was applied to directly measure the mechanical self-vibration. The frequency of self-vibration has a nonlinear effect on the measurement error of g, and the peak frequencies should be avoided. The vibration signal was analyzed in time and frequency domain by continuous wavelet transform (CWT). The close frequency profiles were measured in the scalogram and the beat vibrations were observed in time domain as the results of the horizontal swing. The 38 Hz self-vibration had the dominating effect on the measurement error of g for T-1 absolute gravimeter. After optimizing the structure of the tripod, the dominating frequency increased from 38 Hz to 42 Hz. A 11% increase of the vibration frequency can reduce the measurement error of g.

Free-fall absolute gravimeters are important classical high precision absolute gravimeters in many branches of scientific research. But its performance is always troubled by the ground vibration. Vibration correction method is used to correct the result by detecting the ground vibration with sensors. A Kalman filter based fusion method is proposed to obtain more accurate ground vibration signal by fusing the outputs of the seismometer and the accelerometer. Experiment is conducted with the homemade T-1 absolute gravimeter, the standard deviation of the corrected results using seismometer data and fused data are 586.32 μGal (1 μGal = 10 −8 m/s 2 ) and 508.59 μGal respectively, much better than the uncorrected result’s 6548.96 μGal. The results prove the superiority of fused data over data measured from single sensor. It is believed that the application scene of the vibration correction will be broadened and the performance of the vibration correction will also be improved by using the proposed fusion method in the future.

A free-fall absolute gravimeter uses a Mach-Zehnder interferometer to track the free-falling object. Theoretically, it needs an inertial reference point, which is a reference retroreflector keeping static in inertial frame for an accurate absolute gravimetry. Practically, the reference retroreflector is always disturbed by the ground vibration. Traditionally, a vibration correction method with a broadband seismometer is used to reduce the effect of the ground vibration. The transfer function between the reference retroreflector and the seismometer is hypothesized as a proportional element with time delay. The difference between the hypothesized and the real transfer function limits the effect of the vibration correction. On this basis, a modified method, replacing the sensitive element of a seismometer with the reference retroreflector, is proposed. The motion of the reference retroreflector is measured directly by differential parallel plate capacitance detection. A closed-loop control circuit produces feedback voltage to make the reference retroreflector track the ground vibration. The feedback voltage represents the reference retroreflector’s motion directly. Experiments show the capacitance detecting circuit detects the displacement of the reference retroreflector relative to the ground with a resolution of 0.6 nm at 500 Hz. The acceleration resolution of the homemade vertical seismometer is about 10 mGal. The sensitivity of the seismometer is 316 V/g. The damp ratio of the homemade seismometer is little, and the natural frequency of the homemade seismometer is 104 Hz by analyzing the step response of the system. The bandwidth of the system is around 175 Hz. In the future, the homemade seismometer will be applied in absolute gravimeters for hostile measurement.

Vibration isolators have been widely used to keep the target object from the ground vibration in order to improve the measurement accuracy. Nowadays, the ultra-low frequency vibration isolator based on a two-stage structure shows the best performance. Traditionally, vertically suspended springs are usually applied as the second-stage. As the requirement of the low stiffness, the springs need to be long, which brings the disadvantages of relatively large size and small allowable load. A novel ultra-low frequency active vertical vibration isolator is proposed in this paper, which applies geometric anti-spring (GAS) instead of the second-stage suspended springs. The isolated object (the second stage) is supported by GAS fixed on an inner frame (the first stage), and the inner frame is hung with supporting springs from the base of the vibration isolator. The inner frame is driven by a voice coil to track the motion of the isolated object according to the relative motion signal detected by a photoelectric detector. Ideally, GAS provides zero restoring force for the object, thus realizing a long natural resonance period. Experimental results show that the isolator can achieve a resonance period of 14.7 s, compared with a simulated result of 20.7 s. Therefore, it is accessible to reduce the isolator’s volume and increase the allowable load by replacing the traditional second-stage suspended springs with GAS, without harming the vibration isolation effect. Promisingly it will be applied in free-falling and atomic-interference absolute gravimeters, and other precise measurements.

The absolute gravitation acceleration ( g ) is generally measured by observation of a free-falling test mass in a vacuum chamber based on laser interference. Usually the free-falling object trajectory is obtained by timing the zero-crossings of the interference fringe signal. A traditional way to time the zero-crossings is electronic counting method, of which the resolution is limited in principle. In this paper, a fringe signal processing method with multi-sample zero-crossing detection based on Digital Signal Processor (DSP) is proposed and realized for the application in absolute gravimeters. The principle and design of the fringe signal processing method are introduced. The measuring precision is evaluated both theoretically and from numerical software simulations with MATLAB ® , and verified by hardware simulated free-falling experiments. The results show that the absolute error of the gravity acceleration measurement introduced by the fringe signal processing method is less than 0.5 μGal (1 μGal = 1×10 −8 m/s 2 ), and the impact on the standard deviation is about 2 μGal. This method can effectively reduce the systematic error of the traditional electronic counting method, and satisfy the requirements for precision and portability, especially for field ready absolute gravimeters.

The laser interferometer is used to track the falling object in a freefall absolute gravimeter, which could be disturbed by the vibration from the ground. Thus, the vibration compensation method is often used to reduce the influence of the vibration. Typically, a sensor (broadband seismometer) is used to record the vibration. But the measured ‘vibration’ N m ( t ) does not equal the motion of the reference corner cube N ( t ). Because there exists a transfer function G ( s ) making N m ( s ) = G ( s ) N ( s ). Traditionally, G ( s ) is assumed to be equal to the transfer function of the sensor, which can be achieved with the help of other equipment. But the assumption is not reasonable and the process of calculating the transfer function is complicated. A novel vibration compensation method without any other equipment is proposed in this paper. In this method, G ( s ) is simplified to estimate N ( t ) using N′ ( t ) = AN m ( t − τ ), which is used for compensation. The gain A and delay τ can be obtained by analysis of the data acquired by the absolute gravimeter. The experiments are conducted with the homemade absolute gravimeter T-1 and repeated for 75 times. The standard deviation of the uncompensated results is 3276 μGal (1 μGal = 1 × 10 −8 m/s 2 ), while that of the compensated results is 167 μGal. The compensation method not only achieves a reduction by nearly a factor of 20, but also can be simply used without any other equipment. The results indicate that the method basically meets the demands of absolute gravimeters. In the future, it may be applied to dynamic absolute gravity measurement and take the place of vibration isolators.

This paper presents a new type of constant-velocity transmission devices based on parallel mechanisms with properties of equal-diameter spherical pure rolling. The method we used is essentially an extension of the planar ellipse gear to the spherical one. Both the fixed and moving axodes of a specified parallel mechanism are obtained, as traced by the spatial instant screw axis (ISA) with respect to the fixed and moving coordinate systems. Based on Poinsot’s theorem and achievements, a series of these parallel mechanisms which satisfy constant-velocity condition have been disclosed correspondingly. Their motion range and transmission performances are also explored by taking the 3-4R mechanism as an instance. As the main part of this paper, two important applications for this type of constant-velocity transmission devices are also explored. One is used as a gearless spherical gear, and the other is used as a constant-velocity universal joint (CVJ). Simulations were fulfilled on ADAMS to verify the transmission performance in terms of different applications.

Two degree-of-freedom (DOF) manipulators have been widely applied in pointing devices. Besides the commonly used gimbal platforms, two different kinds of parallel platforms base on parallel manipulators are presented as real applications in this paper. In a situation, a pointing device acquires and tracks a remote target via optical sensors amounted on the device. As the authors’ recent research, there are image distortions caused by deflected camera axis while the pointing device changing its attitudes. The paper refers the phenomena to the self-motion characteristics as the 2-DOF platforms rotate around the fixed platform axis. Basic image distortion principles of the three platforms are illustrated and discussed. Relationship between the self-motion and revolution are analyzed via the graphic approach and simulated on the software. Results indicate that these different phenomena are due to the different inherent characters of the platform’s freedom lines and freedom disks. Conclusions revealed in this paper would help the engineers with the type selections and applications, especially for the remote virtual reality devices which can provide realistic images for the human eyes. This work will facilitate the image processing and improve the measuring accuracy for the pointing devices.

The ingress of hot gas through the rim seal of a gas turbine depends on the pressure difference between the mainstream flow in the turbine annulus and that in the wheel-space radially inward of the rim seal. In this paper, a previously published orifice model is modified so that the sealing effectiveness ε c determined from concentration measurements in a rig could be used to determine ε p the effectiveness determined from pressure measurements in an engine. It is assumed that there is a hypothetical ‘sweet spot’ on the vane platform where the measured pressures would ensure that the calculated value of ε p equals ε c , the value determined from concentration measurements. Experimental measurements for a radial-clearance seal show that, as predicted, the hypothetical pressure difference at the sweet spot is linearly related to the pressure difference measured at an arbitrary location on the vane platform. There is good agreement between the values of ε p determined using the theoretical model and values of ε c determined from concentration measurements. Supporting computations, using a 3D steady CFD code, show that the axial location of the sweet spot is very close to the upstream edge of the seal clearance. It is shown how parameters obtained from measurements of pressure and concentration in a rig could, in principle, be used to calculate the sealing effectiveness in an engine.

Two-degree-of-freedom (2-DOF) rotational parallel manipulators (RPMs) have been widely used in pointing devices and robot wrists. This paper focuses on a class of 2-DOF RPMs achieving an equal-diameter spherical pure rolling motion (ESPRM) around the base. At first, a theoretical model of spherical pure rolling motion is analyzed and the characteristic of the associated constraint space is derived. Taking the Omni-Wrist III as a typical 2-DOF RPMs with an equal-diameter spherical pure rolling motion, mappings between the geometry and the motion are established and eight useful constraint conditions are derived which will be instructive for the type synthesis. Then, with focus on symmetrical structures, nine classes of 2-DOF RPMs with equal-diameter spherical pure rolling motion are synthesized based on the graphic method. Most of these RPMs have already been used in practice. Unlike the conventional type synthesis of lower-mobility parallel manipulators in literatures, some geometrical parameters of links, in addition to the distributions of joints and limbs, are taken into consideration in the type synthesis in this paper. This proposed research may help produce novel architectures.