Reducing off-road vehicle seat vibrations using pneumatic active suspension and fuzzy logic based controller

This paper describes the capabilities of fuzzy logic based controllers in the process of pneumatic active suspension of a heavy vehicle seat vibrations. The pneumatic active suspension system is introduced to solve conflicting requirements of comfort and handling. The air spring is used as an active element and the damper is used as passive element for reducing vibrations. The usage of the active air spring enhances passenger comfort by comparison with passive, semi-active and active hydraulic suspension, during long time drives at a very bumpy road. Description of the seat, including its mechanical characteristics, is given in the paper. The mathematical model was created according to the physical setup of the vehicle seat at the testing laboratory. MATLAB and Simulink are used as tools for developing the simulation model of the driver seat. Control system description and implementation at the experimental setup using dSPACE module, are also explained. The SEAT value is used for the validation of control quality. The obtained simulations show that the developed road adaptive suspension controllers provide superior driver´s comfort for most difficult types of road.