Structural Applications of Smart Materials in Construction Engineering Using Robotics

Sensors and actuators designs have mimicked nature to a large extent. Similar to our five senses - sight, sound, smell, taste and touch - correspondingly visual/optical, acoustic/ultrasonic, electrical, chemical and thermal/magnetic sensors have been developed. The response from these primary sensors is converted to electrical signals, which are transmitted to the brain (central processing unit) for further processing. In addition to the processing, the role of the processor is to make decision based on these inputs. This is currently done manually by an experienced operator who has an understanding of the sensing and processing technology. To aid the operator in making a more judicious decision, the conditioned signal has to be presented with as much pertinent information displayed in an arresting way. A further development would be to provide the virtual machine itself to make the judgment - smart sensor. The next stage in this would be for the processor to decide on the course of action and the actuation mechanism to respond accordingly. Virtual human robots can be equipped with sensors, memory, perception, and behavioral motor. This eventually makes these virtual human robots to act or react to events. The design of a behavioral animation system raises questions about creating autonomous actors, endowing them with perception, selecting their actions, their motor control and making their behavior believable and the behavior should be spontaneous and unpredictable