Partial Decentralized Wireless Control Through Distributed Computing for Seismically Excited Civil Structures: Theory and Validation

This study presents a partially-decentralized control scheme for wireless control of large civil structures. Reducing the seismic response of a structure reduces the likelihood of significant damage to the structure or its occupants. The cost of implementing such a system is reduced by employing wireless sensors, thus avoiding the prohibitive cost of installing cable-based systems. Wireless sensors with embedded computational abilities capable of sensing and actuation can perform structural control tasks without a central computer. A wireless sensor network is developed composed of wireless sensors employing identical static Kalman estimators. The wireless sensors command actuators with LQR derived state-feedback control forces based on state vectors locally calculated from embedded Kalman estimators. Each unit compares the estimated state values to their local measured state data; in the case where the estimate error exceeds a predefined threshold, replaces the estimated value with the measured value and transmits the update to the entire wireless sensor network. By strategically transmitting only some of the measured data, this scheme reduces demand on the limited wireless bandwidth and energy resources associated with wireless sensor networks. Numerical simulation results using this scheme are presented as well as experimental results for a half-scale 3-story steel structure with magnetorheological (MR) dampers controlling each floor.