Vehicle height and leveling control of electronically controlled air suspension using mixed logical dynamical approach

Abstract

Vehicle height and leveling control of electronically controlled air suspension (ECAS) still poses theoretical challenges for researchers that have not been adequately addressed in prior research. This paper investigates the design and verification of a new controller to adjust the vehicle height and to regulate the roll and pitch angles of the vehicle body (leveling control) during the height adjustment procedures. A nonlinear mechanism model of the vehicle height adjustment system is formulated to describe the dynamic behaviors of the system. By using mixed logical dynamical (MLD) approach, a novel control strategy is proposed to adjust the vehicle height by controlling the on-off statuses of the solenoid valves directly. On this basis, a correction algorithm is also designed to regulate the durations of the on-off statuses of the solenoid valves based on pulse width modulated (PWM) technology, thus the effective leveling control of the vehicle body can be guaranteed. Finally, simulations and vehicle tests results are presented to demonstrate the effectiveness and applicability of the proposed control methodology.