An application of explicit self-tuning controller to vehicle active suspension systems

The authors present an application of an explicit adaptive control (EAC) for an active suspension system which adapts and provides superior ride comfort and racing vehicle performance in the presence of variations in suspension components and sprung load over harsh road conditions. The proposed EAC is based on a self-tuning controller design which is unique to the active suspension application. It consists of online low-order recursive parameter estimation utilizing strategic sensors, closed-form algebraic gain, computation, and manipulation for the control parameter. It is shown that the EAC-based active suspension system improves suspension system performance and shows an excellent adaptability over system variance and perturbation