Two-level controller design for an active suspension system

In this paper, the design of a two-level controller is proposed for active suspension systems. The required control force is computed by applying a high-level controller, which is designed using a linear parameter varying (LPV) method. The suspension structure contains nonlinear components, i.e. the dynamics of the dampers, the springs and the actuator dynamics. The actuator generating the necessary control force is a nonlinear state dependent switching system, for which a low- level backstepping-based force-tracking controller is designed. The low-level controller is designed by both the backstepping and the feedback linearization methods. The operation of the two-level controller is illustrated through simulation examples.