Implementation of an Active Suspension, Preview Controller for Improved Ride Comfort

A fully active suspension and preview control is utilized to improve ride comfort, which allows increased travelling speed over rough terrain. Previous research is extended and the relevant implementation issues are addressed. Specifically, the methodology of model predictive control has been applied to explicitly address suspension saturation constraints, suspension rate limits, and other system non-linearities. For comparison, the following non-preview controllers were implemented: a skyhook damping controller, a linear quadratic regulator, and a mock passive suspension controller. Particular attention is given to the hydraulic actuator force controller that tracks commands generated by higher-level controllers. The complete system has been successfully realized on a US military high-mobility multi-purpose wheeled vehicle (HMMWV) using a commercially available microprocessor platform. Experimental results show that the power absorbed by the driver is decreased by more than half, significantly improving ride comfort.