A method and device utilizing pressure and/or height measurements across an axle of a vehicle to detect when the vehicle turns and, when a turn is detected, a control action is taken to avoid pneumatic pressure loss by inhibiting active leveling via the height adjustable suspension.

A suspension system for a vehicle includes at least two torsion bars, each of which are connected on their first end to respective wheel suspensions that are arranged on opposite lateral sides of the vehicle. Movement of the wheel suspensions produces torque in the respective torsion bars. Each of the torsion bars are connected on their second ends to a frame of the vehicle through a damper system. Movement of the wheel suspensions produces torque in the respective torsion bar. The damper system selectively applies resistance to the torque in the torsion bars to selectively provide active variable spring rates to the wheel suspension, which application of resistance may be coordinated amongst the various torsion bars to inhibit roll of the vehicle during a turning maneuver or to increase occupant comfort when the vehicle encounters a bump or hole.

A steering control device which applies an assist torque or a reaction torque to a steering member operated by a driver, includes: a torque loss estimation unit which estimates torque loss; and a correction amount calculation unit which calculates a correction amount according to a rack axial force estimation value calculated based on a roll rate when the torque loss estimation unit estimates the torque loss.

A system for active roll control for a vehicle body is provided and includes a sensor operable to monitor a tilt of the body and a suspension system. The suspension system includes an active sway bar including a first bar portion, a second bar portion, and an active roll control motor disposed between the first bar portion and the second bar portion. The active roll control motor is operable to turn the first bar portion in relation to the second bar portion. The system further includes a computerized active roll control controller which is operative to monitor a driving mode including one of straight-line driving and rounding a curve on a road, monitor an output of the sensor, determine a desired roll moment based upon the driving mode and the output of the sensor, and control the active roll control motor based upon the desired roll moment.

A system for minimizing data transmission latency between a sensor and a suspension controller of a vehicle is described. The system includes: a state determination module that determines a physical state of the vehicle; a plurality of data paths for transmitting a first signal from the sensor to the suspension controller; a data path configurator of the controller that selects a first data path of the plurality of data paths based on at least one characteristic of the first data path and the physical state and configures the first data path to transmit the first signal; and an actuation module that generates an actuation signal to control a damping characteristic of the suspension actuator based on at least the first signal.

An electrically powered suspension system includes: an electromagnetic actuator; an information acquisition unit configured to acquire time-series information related to stroke position of the electromagnetic actuator, information on stroke velocity, and an amount of change in stroke of the electromagnetic actuator and information on a stroke direction based on the time-series information; a damping force calculation unit configured to calculate target damping force based on the information on the stroke velocity; and a drive control unit configured to control driving of the electromagnetic actuator using target driving force obtained based on the target damping force. The damping force calculation unit calculates equivalent friction compensation force based on the amount of change in the stroke and the information on the stroke direction, and corrects the target damping force based on the calculated equivalent friction compensation force. The equivalent friction compensation force has elastic force component and dynamic friction force component.

A shock damper is disposed between a vehicle body side and a wheel side. A suspension control device calculates a damping force of the shock damper on the basis of vehicle height information and controls the damping force. A steering system includes an electric motor and a steering control device that controls the electric motor, and assists steering effort of the driver through the electric motor. The suspension control device calculates the vibration generated in a steering on the basis of a detected value of a vehicle height sensor and creates a signal for generating steering torque that reduces the generated vibration. The suspension control device outputs the created signal to the steering control device. Steering torque for cancelling steering vibration is accordingly outputted from the electric motor of the steering system.

Provided is an electromagnetic suspension apparatus capable of achieving both of vibration isolation performance and road holding performance. The electromagnetic suspension apparatus includes an electromagnetic actuator, an information acquisition unit that acquires information on a stroke speed of the electromagnetic actuator and a state quantity of the vehicle, a plurality of filters in which individual gain characteristics are respectively set, a filter setting unit that selectively sets a filter having a gain characteristic suitable for the state quantity of the vehicle from among the plurality of filters, a filter processing unit that performs a filtering process on a stroke speed signal using the filter set by the filter setting unit, and a drive control unit that controls driving of the electromagnetic actuator based on relationship information between the stroke speed after the filtering process and a damping force corresponding to the stroke speed.

A method dynamically stabilizes a vehicle having a suspension system including pneumatic air springs, with one air spring being associated with each wheel, each air spring being independently adjustable in height; an air spring valve associated with each air spring; and a reservoir containing a source of air. The method obtains data relating to at least lateral acceleration, yaw rate, roll rate, velocity and the steering wheel angle deviation of the vehicle. Thresholds are established, and the data is compared to the thresholds. If thresholds are exceeded, at least one air spring valve is automatically opened to increase air pressure in the associated air spring by receiving air from the reservoir, or to decrease air pressure in the associated air spring by returning air to the reservoir, so as to adjust a height of the associated air spring to help transfer the weight of the vehicle.

An object of the present invention is to obtain an electromagnetic suspension apparatus capable of meeting a request to improve ride comfort irrespective of a magnitude of a spring constant preset in a spring member. The electromagnetic suspension apparatus includes an electromagnetic actuator that generates a driving force related to vibration damping of the vehicle body, an information acquisition unit that acquires information on a stroke position of the electromagnetic actuator, and an ECU that calculates a target driving force of the electromagnetic actuator and controls a driving force of the electromagnetic actuator using the calculated target driving force. When the stroke position acquired by the information acquisition unit is in a neutral range including a neutral position, the ECU corrects the target driving force so as to reduce a spring force related to the spring member as compared with when the stroke position is in a non-neutral range.