Suspension Preview Control for Independently Steerable Wheels
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional suspension control methods struggle to effectively manage suspension settings in vehicles with independently drivable and steerable wheels, especially on rough road surfaces like off-road environments, where it is difficult to predict the road state without camera assistance.
Innovation Solution
A suspension module and control method that utilize sensors to identify the state of the road surface and predict the movement paths of the vehicle's wheels, allowing for adaptive control of suspension damping, force, and ride height for wheels with overlapping movement paths, even in off-road conditions.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Measurement precision
If camera-based road surface identification is used for suspension control, then suspension control accuracy is improved, but device complexity and cost increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent uses wheel acceleration signals as a simplified copy or proxy for direct road surface measurement. Instead of using complex camera systems to directly observe the road surface, the system copies the road surface information through the wheel's dynamic response (acceleration signals), which indirectly reflects road conditions. This reduces device complexity while maintaining the ability to identify road surface states for suspension control.
2Stability of the object's composition
If state following control is used for general steering, then vehicle stability is improved on paved roads, but suspension control effectiveness deteriorates on rough off-road surfaces
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements dynamic switching between different control strategies based on detected road conditions. The system transitions from state following control (suitable for paved roads) to preview control (suitable for off-road conditions) by monitoring wheel acceleration signals. This dynamic adaptation allows the system to maintain both vehicle stability on paved roads and suspension control effectiveness on rough off-road surfaces.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent changes control parameters based on road surface conditions identified through wheel acceleration analysis. When off-road conditions are detected, the system modifies suspension control parameters and switches to preview control strategy. This parameter adaptation enables the system to maintain reliability across different road conditions while preserving vehicle stability characteristics.
3Reliability
If preview control is implemented for all wheels, then suspension control effectiveness is improved, but information requirements and processing complexity increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies preview control selectively to individual wheels based on their specific movement paths and detected road conditions, rather than uniformly to all wheels. The system analyzes wheel acceleration signals locally for each wheel and applies preview control only where needed, reducing overall information processing requirements while maintaining suspension control effectiveness for wheels operating on rough terrain.
Data Source
AI summary
A suspension module for a vehicle configured to be independently drivable and steerable of each of four wheels and a control method thereof may improve ride quality in various driving modes of the vehicle, such as oblique driving, crab driving, rotating driving, and the like, by controlling a suspension of a following wheel having an overlapped movement line using information on a road surface identified by a preceding wheel.