A method and system for measuring rotor position or velocity in an electric motor disposed in hydraulic fluid. The system comprises a contactless position sensor that measures electric motor rotor via magnetic, optical, or other means through a diaphragm that is permeable to the sensing means but impervious to the hydraulic fluid. An electronic sensor is positioned outside the operating fluid, whereas the motor is located in the fluid volume.

A control circuit switches over a shift range by controlling driving of a motor to rotationally drive a detent plate. A current detection circuit detects a current value corresponding to a driving current supplied to drive the motor. A current increase check part performs check processing to check whether the current value detected by the current detection circuit has increased. A motor rotation stop part stops rotation of the motor when the current increase check part determines that the current has increased. A reverse driving part reverses the rotation direction of the motor and rotationally drives the motor after stopping of the motor by the motor rotation stop part.

A method, using multiple position sensors, for determining a characteristic of the actuator or a system, wherein the characteristic is causing or is indicative of the cause of the change in position of the actuator. One characteristic may be the lost motion of the actuator or system. Lost motion is the lag between the motion of a controlled device and that of an electrical drive device due to yielding or looseness. The lost motion of an actuator may increase as components wear and may eventually degrade the function or cause failure of the actuator and/or system.

A method, using multiple position sensors, for determining a characteristic of the actuator or a system, wherein the characteristic is causing or is indicative of the cause of the change in position of the actuator. One characteristic may be the lost motion of the actuator or system. Lost motion is the lag between the motion of a controlled device and that of an electrical drive device due to yielding or looseness. The lost motion of an actuator may increase as components wear and may eventually degrade the function or cause failure of the actuator and/or system.

An axial flux motor has a rotor mounted about an axis of rotation. Permanent magnets are mounted on a first axial face of the rotor and a predetermined encoder pattern is provided on the surface of a second axial face of the rotor. A stator is positioned on one side of the rotor adjacent to the first axial face of the rotor. A sensor is mounted on the other side of the rotor adjacent to the second axial face of the rotor. The sensor outputs signals corresponding to the encoder pattern on the surface of the second axial face of the rotor. A motor control system is coupled to receive the signals from the sensor and calculates a speed of rotation of the rotor based on the signals from the sensor. In addition, the motor control system may calculate rotor position information, relative or absolute, based on the encoder pattern.

A method of on-demand energy delivery to an active suspension system comprising an actuator body, hydraulic pump, electric motor, plurality of sensors, energy storage facility, and controller is provided. The method comprises disposing an active suspension system in a vehicle between a wheel mount and a vehicle body, detecting a wheel event requiring control of the active suspension; and sourcing energy from the energy storage facility and delivering it to the electric motor in response to the wheel event.

An apparatus for operating simultaneously as DC (Direct Current) motor and DC generator is disclosed. Four permanent magnets (101, 102, 103, 104) are placed to be able to rotate with a shaft and two coils (201, 202) are placed outside the circumference of the permanent magnets and one secondary cell battery (301) is used to supply electric current to the coils. One device (501) for making electric current flow alternately in the coils is placed. If electric current flows in a first coil (201) by the secondary cell battery, the shaft rotates and the rotating permanent magnets generate electric power in a second coil (202). Electric current flows from the second coil to the first coil. Electric current always flows in one direction in the coils as the shaft rotates in one direction.

An apparatus for operating simultaneously as DC (Direct Current) motor and DC generator is disclosed. Four permanent magnets (101, 102, 103, 104) are placed to be able to rotate with a shaft and two coils (201, 202) are placed outside the circumference of the permanent magnets and one secondary cell battery (301) is used to supply electric current to the coils. One device (501) for making electric current flow alternately in the coils is placed. If electric current flows in a first coil (201) by the secondary cell battery, the shaft rotates and the rotating permanent magnets generate electric power in a second coil (202). Electric current flows from the second coil to the first coil. Electric current always flows in one direction in the coils as the shaft rotates in one direction.

A self-driving vehicle with an integrated fully-active suspension system. The fully-active suspension utilizes data from one or more sensors used for autonomous driving (e.g. vision, LIDAR, GPS) in order to anticipate road conditions in advance. The system builds a topographical map of the road surface. Suspension and road data is delivered back to the vehicle in order to change autonomous driving behavior including route planning. Energy storage is regulated based on a planned route. Forward and lateral acceleration feel is mitigated through active pitch and tilt compensation. The fully-active suspension pushes and pulls the suspension in three or more operational quadrants in order to deliver superior ride comfort, handling, and/safety of the vehicle.

A self-driving vehicle with an integrated fully-active suspension system. The fully-active suspension utilizes data from one or more sensors used for autonomous driving (e.g. vision, LIDAR, GPS) in order to anticipate road conditions in advance. The system builds a topographical map of the road surface. Suspension and road data is delivered back to the vehicle in order to change autonomous driving behavior including route planning. Energy storage is regulated based on a planned route. Forward and lateral acceleration feel is mitigated through active pitch and tilt compensation. The fully-active suspension pushes and pulls the suspension in three or more operational quadrants in order to deliver superior ride comfort, handling, and/safety of the vehicle.