Modal Testing Using the Rattlesnake Vibration Controller

Rattlesnake is an open-source vibration controller designed for multiple-input, multiple-output vibration control research and development. Over the past few years, the software has become the main vibration controller for multiple-input, multiple-output testing at Sandia National Laboratories. Rattlesnake has been used on several large-scale tests, controlling nearly 100 control channels using up to 24 shakers while simultaneously streaming over 200 channels to disk. With several researchers using modal quantities to study vibration control, there has been interest in adding experimental modal analysis capabilities into the Rattlesnake software, which would allow the user to seamlessly switch between modal and vibration testing without changing software or hardware setup. This chapter will present recent upgrades to the Rattlesnake vibration controller software, including an overhauled system identification module, the addition of warning and abort limits, and its new modal testing package.