MRI/Dev.: Dev of A Configurable Cyberphysical Instrument for Real-Time Hybrid Testing
Project Proposed: This project, developing a Cyber-physical Instrument for Real-time hybrid Structural Testing (CIRST), supports the development and evaluation of new system design, implementation, and analysis techniques involving both cyber (computer hardware and software) and physical elements. The work aims to advance the state-of-the-art regarding real-time hybrid testing of structural systems, validate the next generation of structural monitoring and control systems, and study realistic limitations on issues such as fault tolerance, reliability, and stability in cyber-physical systems. The challenge in real-time hybrid testing revolves around the timely and appropriate coordination of ? Applying the input motions and forces to physical components and ? Communicating values of the input motions and forces to simulated components. Actuator dynamics, complex interactions between the cyber and physical elements and computational time delays all hamper the ability to conduct accurate tests. Precise temporal synchronization, timely interactions, high fidelity numerical models of the physical components and predictive modeling and control techniques are thus crucial elements for integration control and simulation of such complex system dynamics. Thus, configurability and real-time operation constitute the instrument?s novel aspect. It is expected to provide the ability to consider large variety of structures and configuration in a single series of tests, and to operate and control those large-scale tests at finer time scales. The instrument should enable validation of new real-time scheduling and resource management techniques while facing the very realistic constraints needed to achieve real-time control. This time-scale aware distributed real-time control system component integrates and extends existing open-source tools and system software. Each experiment may be set up and controlled using an interactive dashboard that will provide visual tools for real-time data observation and analysis. CIRST will use the adjacent shake table facility for acceptance testing.
Broader Impacts: Details for this unique instrument will be documented through the project website and made available to the research community, including open-source distribution of system software and design documentation. Moreover, the instrument will enable training students through workshops. Several courses will also employ the instrument.
