Proceedings Article | 26 July 2004
Proc. SPIE. 5383, Smart Structures and Materials 2004: Modeling, Signal Processing, and Control
KEYWORDS: Actuators, Sensors, Matrices, Control systems, Antennas, Smart structures, Structural design, Conformal antenna, Mechatronics, Motion controllers
The control of the shape of a sub - region of a structure has many important practical applications; for instance the control of the shape of a conformal antenna that is mounted to the surface of a sub - region of a structure. Given the desired shape of the sub - region one can use self - stress actuators, which only act in the sub - region itself, to implement the required control. However, if the structure is disturbed by external excitations, the actuators have to compensate the additional vibrations too; therefore, also sensors have to be designed. A proper sensor design requires the sensor to be an integrated part of the structure and to be located in the sub - region only. Using self - stress sensors is near at hand; moreover, one may even use the actuators as sensors, resulting in so - called self - sensing actuator / sensor pairs. Clearly, this procedure provides collocation between actuator and sensor automatically, which, from a control point of view, is highly desirable.
In the present paper we summarize the design of actuators for the sub - region control of a structure. Then we discuss the design of collocated sensors, their output signal and the application of a PD - control law. We show that the output signal is the natural output of the system and that the closed loop system is stable. Finally, we present numerical results for a beam type structure.
