Real-Time State Evaluation System of Antenna Structures in Radio Telescopes Based on a Digital Twin

To enhance the intelligence and digital management level of radio telescopes and ensure the safe and stable operation of antennas, this paper proposes a real-time state evaluation method for the antenna structure of radio telescopes based on digital twin (DT) technology. Firstly, based on the five-dimensional model of DT, a digital twin system (DTs) framework for radio telescopes is designed. Secondly, the quadric error metrics (QEM) mesh-simplification algorithm and mesh-reconstruction technology are employed to obtain a lightweight twin model of the antenna. Furthermore, a random forest (RF) regression surrogate model is established using finite element point cloud data samples. The K-nearest neighbor (KNN) algorithm and radial basis function (RBF) interpolation algorithm are utilized to construct the virtual–physical mapping model of the antenna, enabling rapid prediction and evaluation of the antenna structure state. Finally, a DT for real-time antenna structure state evaluation is developed using the Unity3D engine, with an experimental prototype of a reflector antenna as the object. Experimental results show that the average prediction accuracy of the physical field surrogate model of the system is 0.98, and the average computation time is 0.4 s. The system meets the precision and computational efficiency requirements for the real-time and accurate evaluation of the antenna structure state.