Hybrid sensor network control of vehicle ride comfort, handling, and safety with semi-active charging suspension

Semi-active charging suspension has been the highlight in the research of ride comfort, handling, and safety of road vehicles in real time. Adjustable damping shock absorber is the key part of semi-active suspension. Many studies are focused on the control and impacts of automotive ride comfort. However, few of them are about the relationship among the damping of adjustable damping shock absorber, handling stability, and safety. In this article, a full car model based on multi-body dynamics was built, including the steering system, front and rear suspensions, tire, driving controller, and road. And the model was verified by tests. Based on the co-simulation, a controller was built based on hybrid sensor network control. The hybrid network control principle was switched among comfort controller, stability controller, and safety controller, in accordance with working conditions. The design effectively improved ride comfort, handling stability, and driving safety. Finally, a rapid control prototype was built based on dSPACE to conduct a real vehicle test. By comparison of the time response diagram, the results on pulse input and S-shaped road indicate that handling stability and driving safety enter into the stable domain and negative effects are successfully suppressed.