Decentralized civil structural control using real-time wireless sensing and embedded computing

Structural control technologies have attracted great interest from the earthquake engineering community over the last few decades as an effective method of reducing undesired structural responses. Traditional structural control systems employ large quantities of cables to connect structural sensors, actuators, and controllers into one integrated system. To reduce the high-costs associated with labor-intensive installations, wireless communication can serve as an alternative real-time communication link between the nodes of a control system. A prototype wireless structural sensing and control system has been physically implemented and its performance verified in large-scale shake table tests. This paper introduces the design of this prototype system and investigates the feasibility of employing decentralized and partially decentralized control strategies to mitigate the challenge of communication latencies associated with wireless sensor networks. Closed-loop feedback control algorithms are embedded within the wireless sensor prototypes allowing them to serve as controllers in the control system. To validate the embedment of control algorithms, a 3-story half-scale steel structure is employed with magnetorheological (MR) dampers installed on each floor. Both numerical simulation and experimental results show that decentralized control solutions can be very effective in attaining the optimal performance of the wireless control system.