Sensor Placement on a Cantilever Beam Using Observability Gramians

Working from an observability characterization based on output energy sensitivity to changes in initial conditions, we derive both analytical and empirical observability Gramian tools for a class of continuum material systems. Using these results, optimal sensor placement is calculated for an Euler-Bernoulli cantilever beam for the following cases: analytical observability for the continuum system and analytical observability for a finite number of modes. Error covariance of an Unscented Kalman Filter is determined for both cases and compared to randomly placed sensors to demonstrate effectiveness of the techniques.