In this paper, the implementation of an active unit-cell metamaterial used for vibration control is discussed. The active unit-cell metamaterial is designed for implementation in a hexapod strut. As each of the unit-cells can be sensed and actuated, over-sensing and over-actuation are introduced in the system. This can be used to create vibration isolation behaviour. This is done using the interaction between the unit-cells.
Using the commercial FEM software COMSOL, the amount of unit-cells used in the strut is determined. By looking at the transmissibility of the system, the required controllers are also determined. The presented unit-cell design makes use of simple active damping controllers in order to improve control flexibility for different systems.
The system is validated using a realistic model made in the commercial software Simulink. The model includes sensor dynamics, sensor noise, and a realistic disturbance. By looking at the transmissibility and the disturbance response, the system is compared to an existing solution. Compared to the existing solution, the transmissibility is lowered by at minimum 13 dB in the frequency range of interest. The transmitted disturbance is lowered roughly 20 times with roughly 6.6 times bigger required control effort.