A biologically inspired control approach for distributed elastic systems

A multi-degree of freedom control approach, which is largely inspired by biological systems, is presented. Control inputs to a structure are achieved by multiple piezoelectric actuators. One actuator chosen as the ''master'' actuator is under the direction of the central, sophisticated controller. The other ''slave'' actuators derive their control inputs by localized, simple learning rules related to the behavior of their neighbor actuators including the ''master.'' Simulations on the control of the vibrational energy density of a harmonically excited simply supported beam demonstrate a significant improvement in control performance over a single actuator case, particularly for off-resonance frequencies. Thus high attenuations are achieved with a multiple degree of freedom actuator with a single main channel of control.