Linear parameter-varying output-feedback for active vibration control of an elastic kinetic roof structure with experimental validation

Elastic kinetics are an approach to design transformable lightweight structures with a stable transformation process. The transformation is realized through elastic bending of structural members by exploiting the compliant material behavior. This lightweight and flexible design comes at the cost of increased sensitivity to static and dynamic disturbances. However, most of the current research focuses on the principles of elastic kinetic transformation instead of effective disturbance mitigation. This work focuses on dynamic disturbance mitigation for such transformable lightweight structures using active control. Modeling and controller synthesis are performed in the linear parameter-varying (LPV) framework, since the dynamics of elastic kinetic structures are transformation-state dependent due to geometric nonlinearities. Based on an LPV model in a grid-based representation, an LPV output-feedback control can be designed and synthesized via a gridding approach. This methodology is experimentally tested and validated for the example of an active hybrid roof structure prototype. •Experimental investigation of the transformation-dependent dynamics of an elastic kinetic roof structure.•Decoupling of bending and torsional dynamics by appropriate input and output transformations.•Decoupled vibration control of bending and torsional dynamics based on linear parameter-varying models.•Design and implementation of linear parameter-varying output-feedback control in grid-based representation.•Experimental validation of the designed controller for fixed and varying operating conditions with a prototype of a mid-scale elastic kinetic roof structure.