A novel feed-forward active vibration/shock isolation scheme that is based
on the use of a Kalman estimator (KE) has been developed. It does not requi
re real-time adaptation and yet maintains its effectiveness when the attrib
utes (such as the frequencies) of the disturbance change. The proposed cont
roller is always second order, regardless of the complexity of the structur
e under control. In addition to feeding forward the measured base accelerat
ion, the acceleration at the location of interest on the structure is measu
red and fed back through the KE gain. Using numerical and experimental data
, the KE-based controller is demonstrated to be highly effective in reducin
g the transmission of the base excitation to the structure.