A Paradigm Shift: Composite/Smart Systems Innovation through Nanoscience, Life Sciences and IT Technologies
Abstract
The smart structures and smart systems have been one of the major contributions from the composite materials and structures community. With the advancement of the sensor and actuator technologies and control theory, the smart systems/structures have been developed and built parasitically . Specifically, based on the control theory, sensors and actuators are placed at the strategic locations to manipulate the sub-elements in a system/structure for achieving more desirable, controllable and efficient system/structure, and oftentimes to arrive at structural health monitoring and self-healing capability. The success of this approach has been enormous and the applications are ranged from civil infrastructures to automobile and to aerospace systems. However, the nature s smartness is not achieved parasitically but built-in organically . For example, the bees and birds are substantially more agile, more efficient, more robust and more energy efficient than any their man-made counterpart. Therefore, the ultimate goal is to learn from the nature and build man-made systems where the smartness is organically built-in . To achieve this vision, the smartness must be derived from the neurological-like sub-systems which are small, distributed, agile and responsive. The advancement in nanotechnology, information technology and life sciences has opened the doors for us to realize this vision.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Aug 01, 2011
- Accession Number
- ADA632306
Entities
People
- Jim Chang
Organizations
- United States Army Research Laboratory