A method and apparatus for a pneumatically sprung caster mechanism to provide a pneumatically controlled ride height for a platform attached to the caster. The caster is mounted to a first end of a pivoting axle, while a piston is mounted to the opposite end of the pivoting axle. The length of the piston is pneumatically controlled to rotate the pivoting axle to either increase, or decrease, the distance between the caster and the platform. Suspension is provided through interaction of the piston with an air reservoir, whereby minute variations in the length of the piston are absorbed by the elasticity of the walls of the air reservoir. A free-flow of air is facilitated such that air forced out of the piston during contraction may be collected by the air reservoir and air required by the piston during expansion may be provided by the air reservoir.

A suspension system for a vehicle includes a plurality of air spring assemblies, each having an air spring, and a suspension position sensor; and a controller. The controller is programmed to determine corner forces associated with each air spring of the plurality of air spring assemblies based on a pressure provided by a pressure sensor and an effective area of each air spring of the plurality of air spring assemblies based on a total length provided by the suspension position sensor, according to a target total length of each air spring.

The present invention provides a steering system for an in-wheel motor vehicle capable of controlling driving torques and speeds of in-wheel motors mounted in left and right wheels to be different from each other at the time of curve driving of the vehicle to generate a steering angle of the wheel for the curve driving, and performing a steering angle control of sensing the generated steering angle and fixing the steering angle to a desired steering angle.

A control device executes caster angle change control for controlling a driving force applying device or each of the driving force applying device and a braking force applying device to reduce a caster angle of a steered tire-wheel assembly when a steering request is received in a stopped state or in a creeping state without exceeding a predetermined vehicle speed at a point starting from the stopped state. In the caster angle change control, the control device applies, to one tire-wheel assembly out of a front tire-wheel assembly and a rear tire-wheel assembly, a driving force in a direction toward the other tire-wheel assembly and applies, to the other tire-wheel assembly, a braking force or a driving force in a direction toward the one tire-wheel assembly to achieve the stopped state or the creeping state in response to a request for acceleration or deceleration.

A damper control device and a suspension device of the present invention controls a damping force of the damper based on a bank angle. Since a degree of the bank angle is a measure of easiness of occurrence of highside, and the damping force of dampers is controlled based on the bank angle in the damper control device and the suspension device, the damping force of the dampers can be appropriately controlled in accordance with a situation in which the highside is easy to occur.

A modified shock absorber for tiltable vehicles, with means to maintain the vertical of the vehicle without offering resistance to the extension movements during tilting maneuvers.

Self-propelled vehicles that adjust the pitch of the vehicle during use are disclosed. The vehicle may include a suspension system position sensor and a control unit that adjusts a suspension element based at least in part on a signal from the suspension system position sensor. In some embodiments, the self-propelled vehicle may include an inclinometer for measuring the pitch of the terrain.

A steering system includes a fixing part connected to a frame, a wheel part into which a part of the fixing part is inserted to perform a relative motion and on which a wheel is provided, and a sensor provided between the wheel part and the fixing part and measuring an error angle of the wheel part with respect to a preset initial position of the wheel part.

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.

A damping control system for a vehicle having a suspension located between a plurality of ground engaging members and a vehicle frame are disclosed. The vehicle including at least one adjustable shock absorber having an adjustable damping characteristic.