A suspension actuator assembly includes a first actuator and a second actuator. The first actuator selectively applies a first force between an unsprung mass and a sprung mass of a vehicle to control movement therebetween. The second actuator selectively applies a second force between the unsprung mass and a reaction mass to damp movement of the unsprung mass. The second actuator is coupled to the first actuator to form the suspension actuator assembly as a singular unit.

A damper control system includes a damper control unit which controls a property of a damper used in a suspension of a vehicle; and a processing unit which accepts feedback data pertaining to behavior of the vehicle measured in the vehicle, applies computational processing specified by executing a machine learning algorithm to the feedback data, and outputs a control variable obtained from the computational processing to the damper control unit. The damper control unit controls the property of the damper on the basis of a control variable used internally within the damper control unit, and replaces the control variable used internally with a new control variable. The new control variable is the control variable output by the processing unit.

A suspension control apparatus includes a control device configured to control a damping characteristic of each of damping force adjustable shock absorbers. The control device includes an external force calculation portion configured to calculate a total external force working on a vehicle body based on a physical amount output from a physical amount extraction portion, an operation force calculation portion configured to calculate an operation-derived force applied to each of the damping force adjustable shock absorbers according to a load movement due to an operation on the vehicle, and a vehicle behavior extraction portion configured to determine an external force derived from a road surface input by separating the operation-derived force calculated by the operation force calculation portion from the total external force calculated by the external force calculation portion.

A method for controlling vehicle motion is described. The method includes accessing a set of control signals including a measured vehicle speed value associated with a movement of a vehicle. A control signal associated with user-induced input is also accessed. The method compares the measured vehicle speed value with a predetermined vehicle speed threshold value to achieve a speed value threshold approach status, and then compares the set of values to achieve a user-induced input threshold value approach status. The method monitors a state of a valve within the vehicle suspension damper, and determines a control mode for the vehicle suspension damper. The method also regulates damping forces within the vehicle suspension damper.

In some examples, a vehicle suspension for supporting, at least in part, a sprung mass, includes a damper connected to the sprung mass, the damper including a movable piston. The vehicle suspension further includes an actuator and a controller. The controller may be configured to determine a frequency of motion associated with the sprung mass. When the frequency of motion is below a first frequency threshold, the controller may send a control signal to cause the actuator to apply a deceleration force to the sprung mass. Further, when the frequency of motion associated with the sprung mass exceeds the first frequency threshold, the controller may send a control signal to cause the actuator to apply a compensatory force to the sprung mass. For instance, a magnitude of the compensatory force may be based on a friction force determined for the damper.

Disclosed are a damper control system and method for vehicles in which speeds of suspension dampers optimized for ECS control may be derived, and wheel G sensors to derive the damper speeds may be omitted, reducing material costs.

Disclosed herein are a damper control system and method according to rough road determination in which the number of sensors is reduced and a state of a road surface is subdivided and determined by a 6D sensor since an existing wheel G sensor is not used at the time of determining the state of the road surface.

At least one controller configured to control an actuator of an active suspension system. The at least one controller includes circuitry configured to determine an actuator state, and apply the actuator state and a commanded state to an inverse model of the actuator to produce an actuator command. The circuitry is configured to produce the actuator command by a process that includes performing low pass filtering and phase compensation to correct a phase introduced by the low pass filtering.

Provided is a system for estimating behavior of a vehicle to control damping force of a variable damper installed between an axle and a vehicle body. The system includes four dampers installed in wheels, two or more wheel sensors configured to detect vertical velocities of wheels, one integrated sensor installed on one side of the vehicle body, and an electronic control unit (ECU) configured to control damping force of the dampers on the basis of a roll value, a pitch value, and a bounce value of the vehicle body estimated through the integrated sensor and the vertical velocities of the wheels.

A method for controlling vehicle motion is described. The method includes accessing a set of control signals including a measured vehicle speed value associated with a movement of a vehicle. A control signal associated with user-induced input is also accessed. The method compares the measured vehicle speed value with a predetermined vehicle speed threshold value to achieve a speed value threshold approach status, and then compares the set of values to achieve a user-induced input threshold value approach status. The method monitors a state of a valve within the vehicle suspension damper, and determines a control mode for the vehicle suspension damper. The method also regulates damping forces within the vehicle suspension damper.