Wirelessly networked distributed controllers for real-time control of civil structures

Civil structures are often exposed to strong winds and seismic loads resulting in large structural deflections. These undesirable deflections can be reduced by installing a structural control system within the structure. To reduce the costs associated with structural control systems, the eradication of expensive wiring required to transmit sensor data to a centralized controller is proposed. Taking advantage of decentralized control and wireless sensor network paradigms, a new approach to the design of a structural control system is presented. In this study, the feasibility of employing a wireless sensor network to both collect state-response data from sensors and to determine control forces is explored in detail. Wireless active sensing units designed to collect data from sensors, execute embedded algorithms and command actuators are adopted to serve as sensor/controller nodes within the wireless structural control system. Provided the real-time demands of the control system, wireless networks present some technological challenges (limited bandwidth, delays and loss of data packets) that must be addressed during the design of the control system. A distributed estimator framework is proposed to limit the use of the wireless communication channel leading to large-scale structural control systems with enhanced reliability.