Series active variable geometry suspension application to comfort enhancement

This paper explores the potential of the Series Active Variable Geometry Suspension (SAVGS) for comfort and road holding enhancement. The SAVGS concept introduces significant nonlinearities associated with the rotation of the mechanical link that connects the chassis to the spring-damper unit. Although conventional linearization procedures implemented in multi-body software packages can deal with this configuration, they produce linear models of reduced applicability. To overcome this limitation, an alternative linearization approach based on energy conservation principles is proposed and successfully applied to one corner of the car, thus enabling the use of linear robust control techniques. An H∞ controller is synthesized for this simplified quarter-car linear model and tuned based on the singular value decomposition of the system's transfer matrix. The proposed control is thoroughly tested with one-corner and full-vehicle nonlinear multi-body models. In the SAVGS setup, the actuator appears in series with the passive spring-damper and therefore it would typically be categorized as a low bandwidth or slow active suspension. However, results presented in this paper for an SAVGS-retrofitted Grand Tourer show that this technology has the potential to also improve the high frequency suspension functions such as comfort and road holding

Advanced robust control strategies of mechatronic suspensions for cars

Two novel mechatronic suspensions for road vehicles are studied in this thesis: the Series Active Variable Geometry Suspension (SAVGS) and the Parallel Active Link Suspension (PALS). The SAVGS and the PALS complement each other in terms of the vehicle categories they serve, which range from light high-performance vehicles (the Grand Tourer) to heavy SUV vehicles, respectively, based on the sprung mass and the passive suspension stiffness. Previous work developed various control methodologies for these types of suspension. Compared to existing active suspension solutions, both the SAVGS and the PALS are capable of low-frequency chassis attitude control and high-frequency ride comfort and road holding enhancement. In order to solve the limitation of both SAVGS and PALS robustness, mu-synthesis control methodologies are first developed for SAVGS and PALS, respectively, to account for structured uncertainties arising from changes to system parameters within realistic operating ranges. Subsequently, to guarantee robustness of both low-frequency and high-frequency vehicle dynamics for PALS, the mu-synthesis scheme is combined with proportional-integral-derivative (PID) control, employing a frequency separation paradigm. Moreover, as an alternative robustness guaranteeing scheme that captures plant nonlinearities and road unevenness as uncertainties and disturbances, a novel robust model predictive control (RMPC) based methodology is proposed for the SAVGS, motivated by the promise shown by RMPC in other industrial applications. Finally, aiming to provide further performance stability and improvements, feedforward control is developed for the PALS. Nonlinear simulations with a set of ISO driving situations are performed to evaluate the efficiency and effectiveness of the proposed control methods in this thesis.Open Acces

Control strategies of series active variable geometry suspension for cars

This thesis develops control strategies of a new type of active suspension for high performance cars, through vehicle modelling, controller design and application, and simulation validation. The basic disciplines related to automotive suspensions are first reviewed and are followed by a brief explanation of the new Series Active Variable Geometry Suspension (SAVGS) concept which has been proposed prior to the work in this thesis. As part of the control synthesis, recent studies in suspension control approaches are intensively reviewed to identify the most suitable control approach for the single-link variant of the SAVGS. The modelling process of the high-fidelity multi-body quarter- and full- vehicle models, and the modelling of the linearised models used throughout this project are given in detail. The design of the controllers uses the linearised models, while the performance of the closed loop system is investigated by implementing the controllers to the nonlinear models. The main body of this thesis elaborates on the process of synthesising H∞ control schemes for quarter-car to full-car control. Starting by using the quarter-car single-link variant of the SAVGS, an H∞ -controlled scheme is successfully constructed, which provides optimal road disturbance and external force rejection to improve comfort and road holding in the context of high frequency dynamics. This control technique is then extended to the more complex full-car SAVGS and its control by considering the pitching and rolling motions in the context of high frequency dynamics as additional objectives. To improve the level of robustness to single-link rotations and remove the geometry nonlinearity away from the equilibrium position, an updated approach of the full-car SAVGS H∞ -controlled scheme is then developed based on a new linear equivalent hand-derived full-car model. Finally, an overall SAVGS control framework is developed, which operates by blending together the updated H∞ controller and an attitude controller, to tackle the comfort and road holding in the high frequency vehicle dynamics and chassis attitude motions in the low frequency vehicle dynamics simultaneously. In all cases, cascade inner position controllers developed prior to the work in this thesis are employed at each corner of the vehicle and combined with the control systems developed in this thesis, to ensure that none of the physical or design limitations of the actuator are violated under any circumstances.Open Acces

LMI-based robust model predictive control for a quarter car with series active variable geometry suspension

This paper proposes a robust model predictive control-based solution for the recently introduced series active variable geometry suspension (SAVGS) to improve the ride comfort and road holding of a quarter car. In order to close the gap between the nonlinear multi-body SAVGS model and its linear equivalent, a new uncertain system characterization is proposed that captures unmodeled dynamics, parameter variation, and external disturbances. Based on the newly proposed linear uncertain model for the quarter car SAVGS system, a constrained optimal control problem (OCP) is presented in the form of a linear matrix inequality (LMI) optimization. More specifically, utilizing semidefinite relaxation techniques a state-feedback robust model predictive control (RMPC) scheme is presented and integrated with the nonlinear multi-body SAVGS model, where state-feedback gain and control perturbation are computed online to optimise performance, while physical and design constraints are preserved. Numerical simulation results with different ISO-defined road events demonstrate the robustness and significant performance improvement in terms of ride comfort and road holding of the proposed approach, as compared to the conventional passive suspension, as well as, to actively controlled SAVGS by a previously developed conventional H-infinity control scheme.Comment: 13 pages, 11 figures, 2 tables, IEEE Transactions on Control Systems Technolog

Parallel active link suspension: full car application with frequency-dependent multi-objective control strategies

In this article, a recently proposed at basic level novel suspension for road vehicles, the parallel active link suspension (PALS), is investigated in the realistic scenario of a sport utility vehicle (SUV) full car. The involved rocker-pushrod assembly is generally optimized to maximize the PALS capability in improving the suspension performance. To fully release the PALS functions of dealing with both low- and high-frequency road cases, a PID control scheme is first employed for the chassis attitude stabilization, focusing on the minimization of both the roll and pitch angles; based on a derived linear equivalent model of the PALS-retrofitted full car, an H∞ control scheme is designed to enhance the ride comfort and road holding; moreover, a frequency-dependent multiobjective control strategy that combines the developed PID and H∞ control is proposed to enable: 1) chassis attitude stabilization at 0-1 Hz; 2) vehicle vibration attenuation at 1-8 Hz; and 3) control effort penalization (for energy saving) above 10 Hz. With a group of ISO-defined road events tested, numerical simulation results demonstrate that, compared to the conventional passive suspension, the PALS has a promising potential in full-car application, with up to 70% reduction of the chassis vertical acceleration in speed bumps and chassis leveling capability of dealing with up to 4.3-m/s² lateral acceleration

Parallel active link suspension: a quarter car experimental study

In this paper, a novel electro-mechanical active suspension for cars, the Parallel Active Link Suspension (PALS), is proposed and then experimentally studied. PALS involves the introduction of a rotary-actuator-driven rocker-pushrod mechanism in parallel with the conventional passive suspension assembly, to exert an additional controlled force between the chassis and the wheel. The PALS geometric arrangement is designed and optimized to maximize the rocker torque propagation onto the tire load increment. A quarter car test rig with double wishbone suspension is utilized for the PALS physical implementation. Based on a linear equivalent model of the PALS quarter car, a conservative and an aggressive robust H∞ control schemes are synthesized separately to improve the ride comfort and the road holding, with different levels of control effort allowed in each of the control schemes. Simulations with a theoretical nonlinear model of the PALS quarter car are performed to evaluate the potential in suspension performance enhancement and power demand in the rocker actuator. Experiments with a harmonic road, a smoothed bump and hole, and swept frequency are conducted with the quarter car test rig to validate the practical feasibility of the novel PALS, the ride comfort enhancement, as well as the accuracy of the theoretical model and of a further nonlinear model in which practical features existing in the test rig are identified and included

Series active variable geometry suspension application to comfort enhancement

This paper explores the potential of the Series Active Variable Geometry Suspension (SAVGS) for comfort and road holding enhancement. The SAVGS concept introduces significant nonlinearities associated with the rotation of the mechanical link that connects the chassis to the spring-damper unit. Although conventional linearization procedures implemented in multi-body software packages can deal with this configuration, they produce linear models of reduced applicability. To overcome this limitation, an alternative linearization approach based on energy conservation principles is proposed and successfully applied to one corner of the car, thus enabling the use of linear robust control techniques. An H∞ controller is synthesized for this simplified quarter-car linear model and tuned based on the singular value decomposition of the system's transfer matrix. The proposed control is thoroughly tested with one-corner and full-vehicle nonlinear multi-body models. In the SAVGS setup, the actuator appears in series with the passive spring-damper and therefore it would typically be categorized as a low bandwidth or slow active suspension. However, results presented in this paper for an SAVGS-retrofitted Grand Tourer show that this technology has the potential to also improve the high frequency suspension functions such as comfort and road holding