Integrated Motion Control Using a Semi-Active Damper System to Improve Yaw-Roll-Pitch Motion of a Vehicle

Abstract

This paper describes a new suspension control logic to improve the yaw-roll-pitch motion of vehicles equipped with electronic controlled suspension (ECS). The proposed suspension control logic can simultaneously control the yaw rate, roll, and pitch behavior of a vehicle while also offering the ability to tune the weightings of each degree of freedom (i.e. the yaw rate, roll and pitch control). This algorithm consists of an integrated vehicle observer (IVO) that estimates the vehicle state, an integrated target generator (ITG), an integrated vehicle controller (IVC) and an optimal distribution controller (ODC). The ITG determines the target roll angle, pitch angle, and yaw rate. To achieve these targets, the IVC determines target roll, pitch, and yaw moments. In consideration of the performance limitations of the ECS system, as well as how the system has been tuned, the ODC determines the damping forces to be applied at each wheel through an optimization method. Simulated and experimental tests were conducted to investigate the performance of the proposed control system, the results indicate that the proposed algorithm noticeably improves the yaw-roll-pitch motions of vehicles.