ABSTRACT
This chapter provides an introduction to the basic issues related to the distributed parameter adaptive structures. A spider is a wonderfully deformable body with intelligence. Since it knows how to react to its environment in real time, its race is around eons. Presently a very effective composites technology exists in bringing together plastics and kevlar fibers, rubber and kevlar fibers, rubber and steel fibers, aluminum and carbon fibers, carbon and boron fibers to produce composite materials to meet the structural requirements of many diversified engineering products. Since tangential strains in a piezo-electric sheet change as a function of voltage gradient in the transverse direction, composite materials using such piezo-electric sheets can be used as distributed actuators. Distributed parameter adaptive structures are distributed parameter structures that are equipped with distributed or discrete parameter sensors, strain inducing actuators, and on-board microprocessors.
