Energy Redistribution with Controllable Binary State Latch Element

Abstract

An application of binary state latch device with proper real-time control algorithm for energy redistribution application is introduced in this thesis. Unlike traditional tuned vibration absorber, the latch device can be viewed as variable semi-active dampers such as magnetorheological (MR) and piezoelectric friction dampers. The distinct difference between other semi-active dampers and our latch device is that other semi-active dampers can provide continuous resistance according to the amount of input current, however, the binary latch device can only provide two different values of resistance - either the maximum or no resistance at all. This property brings the latch possibly having higher maximum and minimum ratio of resistance than MR dampers. As for the operating structure, the mechanism of latch element is nearly the same as the piezoelectric friction dampers which the resistance force is provided according to the normal force acting on two rough plates. Nonetheless, because of the characteristic of the binary states output of the latch element, this make it very different from the ordinary variable dampers. Since it is either being turned on or turned off, a novel control law is required for shifting energy. Also, because of the simplicity of the binary states output, it is very accessible to implement the controller on Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGA). With this accessibility, it is promising to apply plenty of latch elements in the same time for large scale application, such as multi-agent networks. In this thesis, an energy-based analytic solution is proposed to illustrate the universal latch-off condition. And a latch-on condition under ideal situations is discussed. At the end, a control law under nonideal condition is being suggested for real-time periodically excited system. We found that energy redistribution is achievable by using the proper control law under fairly broad conditions.