Vehicle Suspension Proactive Control via Road Height Profile
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing vehicle systems fail to precisely control the actuator system to navigate over obstacles like potholes, lacking a method for proactive adjustment to enhance driving comfort and dynamics.
Innovation Solution
A method and device that use a sensor unit to determine the height profile of the road ahead, classify obstacles by geometric shape, and send predefined control signals to actuator units, such as spring foot point adjustments or dampers, to proactively adjust the vehicle's suspension before encountering obstacles, simulating the effect on a virtual model to optimize compensation.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If the vehicle uses a passive chassis, then the device complexity is low, but the driving comfort and dynamics are insufficient
Solution Approach 1:
The sensor unit detects road height profiles in advance before the vehicle encounters obstacles, and the control device pre-actuates the spring devices and dampers to optimal positions. This preliminary action allows the active chassis system to anticipate and prepare for road irregularities, improving driving comfort by preventing rather than merely reacting to disturbances.
2Ease of operation
If the vehicle uses an active chassis with real-time control, then the driving dynamics are improved, but the response time to obstacles is insufficient
Solution Approach 1:
By detecting road height profiles in advance and calculating optimal actuator positions before obstacles are encountered, the system eliminates the time delay inherent in reactive control systems. The spring devices and dampers are pre-positioned to provide immediate protection when obstacles are encountered, achieving both improved driving dynamics and reduced response time.
Solution Approach 2:
The control device acts as an intermediary that receives advance road profile data from sensor units, processes this information to determine optimal actuator positions, and translates these into precise control signals for spring devices and dampers. This intermediary processing enables the system to bridge the gap between early obstacle detection and timely actuator response.
3Loss of information
If the sensor unit detects road height profile in advance, then the prediction accuracy is improved, but the measurement precision requirements increase
Solution Approach 1:
The road height profile detection is divided into multiple measurement points along the vehicle's path, with sensor units positioned to detect height variations at different locations. This segmentation allows the control device to build a comprehensive prediction model of upcoming road irregularities, improving overall prediction accuracy while distributing measurement requirements across multiple sensors rather than demanding extreme precision from a single sensor.
Data Source
Figure 1~2
AI summary
The present invention relates to a method for operating at least a semi-active chassis of a vehicle (10), in which a height profile of a road surface (11) ahead of the vehicle (10) in the direction of travel is determined by means of at least one sensor unit (13), and at least one actuator unit (14) of the vehicle (10) is proactively controlled by a control unit based on the determined height profile, wherein a current obstacle (12) on the road surface (11) depicted in the determined height profile is assigned to one of a plurality of predefined and stored categories based on the geometric shape of the current obstacle (12), and a predetermined control signal is sent to the at least one actuator unit (14) based on the assigned category, which then implements the control signal accordingly. The present invention further relates to a corresponding device.