Controlling Buildings : A New Frontier in Feedback 1

The protection of civil structures, including their material contents and human occupants, is without doubt a world-wide priority of the most serious current importance. Such protection may range from reliable operation and comfort, on the one hand, to survivability on the other. Examples of such structures leap to one’s mind, and include buildings, offshore rigs, towers, roads, bridges, and pipelines. In like manner, events which cause the need for such protective measures are earthquakes, winds, waves, traffic, lightning, and—today, regrettably—deliberate acts. Indications are that control methods will be able to make a genuine contribution to this problem area, which is of great economic and social importance. In this paper, we review the rapid recent developments which have been occurring in the area of controlled civil structures, including full-scale implementations, actuator types and characteristics, and trends toward the incorporation of more modern algorithms and technologies.