Active Control of Tensegrity Systems

Tensegrity systems have been known for almost half a century. Their mechanical and geometrical characteristics make them suitable to terrestrial and extraterrestrial applications. This paper describes a numerical scheme of active control of tensegrity systems in extraterrestrial applications. An algorithm based on instantaneous optimal control has been developed and applied to an assembly of elementary tensegrity cells. The whole structural system comprises four cells forming a linear structure with 27 cables and 12 struts. Active control is realized in the first simulation by means of three actuators and in the second by means of six actuators located on two of the four cells. The results show that vibration amplitudes of nodes are reduced by such an active control scheme.