Decentralized Civil Structural Control Using a Real-time Wireless Sensing and Control System

Over the last few decades, structural control technologies have attracted great interest from the earthquake engineering community as a means of reducing dynamic structural responses. Traditional structural control systems employ large quantities of cables to connect structural sensors, controllers, and actuators into one system. To reduce the high-cost and labor-intensive installations, wireless communication technology can serve as an alternative to provide real-time data links among the nodes in 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. Our previous study shows that as multiple data links share a common communication channel, communication latency appears to be an important issue with respect to the wireless control system’s performance. This paper investigates the feasibility of employing decentralized and partially decentralized control strategies to eradicate communication latency problems associated with wireless sensor networks. Control algorithms are embedded in a wireless sensor prototype designed for use in a structural control system. To validate the integration of decentralized control algorithms with wireless sensors, a 3-story half-scale steel structure is used with a magnetorheological (MR) damper installed on each floor.