Robert Skelton,
University of California, San Diego, USA
Title: Using control theory to design structures, w/ tensegrity examples
Biography
Biography: Robert Skelton,
Abstract
Form-finding is a nonconvex problem, where a specified variety of structural members may fill a space, but the connections and the nodes are free to be optimized to achieve a specified shape or mechanical property. Tensegrity structures are prime examples of these types of topology optimization problems. From the static equations characterizing all equilibria, it is common to try to solve the nonlinear problem of finding the forces in the members and finding the node locations that globally minimizes mass, subject to yield or buckling constraints. There is helpful information missing in this formulation of the problem. The kinematics and dynamics show how the natural motion must move from one configuration to another, and control theory allows one to use that information to solve a form-finding problem by dynamic relaxation.