A suspension control device which controls an operation of a suspension of a vehicle includes an operation-induced state quantity estimation portion which estimates an operation-induced state quantity caused by an operation of a vehicle, a road surface-induced state quantity estimation portion which estimates a road surface-induced state quantity caused by a road surface, an operation-induced state quantity conversion portion which converts the operation-induced state quantity into an operation-induced required damping force, a road surface-induced state quantity conversion portion which converts the road surface-induced state quantity into a road surface-induced required damping force, and a current value calculation portion which determines a current value to be applied to the suspension with reference to the operation-induced required damping force and the road surface-induced required damping force.

A technology can be realized which increases the sense of unity with a vehicle that is felt by a driver. A suspension control device, which controls the damping force of the suspension of a vehicle, comprises a target control amount calculation unit which sets a target control amount, that is referenced when controlling the damping force of the suspension, such that the period of the phase of the roll angle and the period of the phase of the pitch angle of the vehicle approach a synchronized state, such that the magnitude of the expansion-side damping force is greater than the magnitude of the contraction-side damping force on the front-wheel-side of the vehicle, and such that the contraction-side damping force is greater than or equal to the expansion-side damping force on the rear-wheel-side of the vehicle.

A sensory evaluation prediction system includes an input unit that reads an output from a behavior sensor that measures two or more types of pieces of time series information regarding a moving body, a selection unit that selects two or more types of physical quantities from the output from the behavior sensor read by the input unit, a correlation creation unit that creates information showing a correlation in time series between the two or more types of the physical quantities selected by the selection unit, and an evaluation circuit that calculates an evaluation value of a sensory index based on the information showing the correlation in time series.

The present invention relates to the control of a suspension system of vehicles, and more particularly, to a driver-customized damping control apparatus on the basis of the user's disposition information, and a method thereof. In particular, the present invention provides a damping control apparatus comprising: a mode determining unit that determines a damping mode of the vehicle according to a damping mode configuration signal; a receiving unit that receives a vehicle manipulation signal that is generated according to the vehicle manipulation of a driver; a driver-disposition analyzing unit that analyzes the vehicle manipulation signal and calculates a correction index for the correction of the damping force; and a damping force range determining unit that determines a final damping force range by correcting a damping force range predetermined for each damping mode on the basis of the correction index, and a method thereof.

A multi-wheel vehicle that employs an electric power steering system is described. A method for operating the vehicle includes determining the vehicle is operating in a straight line, and monitoring parameters associated with the electric power steering and associated with vehicle dynamics. A first self-aligning torque parameter is determined based upon the electric power steering parameters, and a second self-aligning torque parameter is determined based upon the vehicle dynamics parameters. Alignment of the wheels is determined based upon the first and second self-aligning torque parameters.

Provided is a vehicle cruise control device 10 that performs trajectory control for causing a vehicle to travel along a traveling road by steering vehicle wheels. The vehicle cruise control device includes: a roll control device (active stabilizers 56 and 58, etc.) configured to control a lateral-direction inclination angle of a vehicle body; and an inclination angle estimation device (a roll rate sensor 72, a stroke sensor 74i, etc.) configured to determine a lateral-direction inclination of a traveling road. When the trajectory control is executed in a situation in which the vehicle travels on a laterally inclined traveling road (S150, S250, S300, S500), the lateral-direction inclination angle of the vehicle body is controlled by the roll control device so that the lateral-direction inclination angle of the vehicle body is greater than 0 and smaller than the lateral-direction inclination angle of the traveling road (S450).

Methods and systems are provided for a vehicle towing a trailer. In one embodiment, a method includes: receiving, by a processor, sensor data from one or more sensors of the vehicle; estimating, by a processor, a steering torque value based on the sensor data; estimating, by the processor, a steering angle value based on the sensor data; determining, by the processor, a trailer tongue value based on the steering torque value and the steering angle value; and generating, by the processor, a control signal to control the vehicle based on the trailer tongue value.