The Design and Performance of Cyber-Physical Middleware for Real-Time Hybrid Structural Testing

Abstract

Real-time hybrid testing of civil structures, in which computational models and physical components must be integrated with high fidelity at run-time represents a grand challenge in the emerging area of cyber-physical systems. Actuator dynamics, complex interactions among computers and physical components, and computation and communication delays all must be managed carefully to achieve accurate tests. To address these challenges, we have developed a novel middleware for integrating cyber and physical components flexibly and with suitable timing behavior within a Cyber-physical Instrument for Real-time hybrid Structural Testing (CIRST). This paper makes three main contributions to the state of the art in middleware for cyber-physical systems: (1) a novel middleware architecture within which cyber-physical components can be integrated flexibly through XML-based configuration specifications, (2) an efficient middleware implementation in C++ that can maintain necessary real-time performance, and (3) a case study that evaluates the middleware's performance and demonstrates its suitability for real-time hybrid testing. Type of Report: Other Department of Computer Science & Engineering Washington University in St. Louis Campus Box 1045 St. Louis, MO 63130 ph: (314) 935-6160 The Design and Performance of Cyber-Physical Middleware for Real-Time Hybrid Structural Testing Huang-Ming Huang, Xiuyu Gao, Terry Tidwell, Christopher Gill, Chenyang Lu, Shirley Dyke Department of Computer Science and Engineering {hh1, ttidwell, cdgill, lu}@cse.wustl.edu Department Mechanical, Aerospace, and Structural Engineering xg2@cec.wustl.edu, sdyke@wustl.edu Washington University, St. Louis, MO, USA Abstract—Real-time hybrid testing of civil structures, in which computational models and physical components must be integrated with high fidelity at run-time represents a grand challenge in the emerging area of cyber-physical systems. Actuator dynamics, complex interactions among computers and physical components, and computation and communication delays all must be managed carefully to achieve accurate tests. To address these challenges, we have developed a novel middleware for integrating cyber and physical components flexibly and with suitable timing behavior within a Cyber-physical Instrument for Real-time hybrid Structural Testing (CIRST). This paper makes three main contributions to the state of the art in middleware for cyber-physical systems: (1) a novel middleware architecture within which cyber-physical components can be integrated flexibly through XML-based configuration specifications, (2) an efficient middleware implementation in C++ that can maintain necessary real-time performance, and (3) a case study that evaluates the middleware’s performance and demonstrates its suitability for real-time hybrid testing.Real-time hybrid testing of civil structures, in which computational models and physical components must be integrated with high fidelity at run-time represents a grand challenge in the emerging area of cyber-physical systems. Actuator dynamics, complex interactions among computers and physical components, and computation and communication delays all must be managed carefully to achieve accurate tests. To address these challenges, we have developed a novel middleware for integrating cyber and physical components flexibly and with suitable timing behavior within a Cyber-physical Instrument for Real-time hybrid Structural Testing (CIRST). This paper makes three main contributions to the state of the art in middleware for cyber-physical systems: (1) a novel middleware architecture within which cyber-physical components can be integrated flexibly through XML-based configuration specifications, (2) an efficient middleware implementation in C++ that can maintain necessary real-time performance, and (3) a case study that evaluates the middleware’s performance and demonstrates its suitability for real-time hybrid testing.