There have been numerous studies of various forms of active suspensions over the past three decades. Most of published literature has reported theoretical studies and outlined the potential advantages in both vehicle ride and handling of such systems over their passive equivalents. One of the systems, which have been shown to have considerable practical potential is a limited bandwidth active scheme based on hydro-pneumatic components. However, in order to exploit the full potential of this arrangement, the control law should include two features; (a) the ability to exploit the wheel-base preview effect in which information at the front suspension of the vehicle is used to improve performance at the rear and (b) the ability to adapt on gain scheduling approach to a variety of different operating conditions. Both features are investigated in the paper using a four degree of freedom model and practical performance benefits are quantified. |
