A suspension actuator includes a first housing part, a second housing part, a ball screw actuator that is connected to the first housing part and to the second housing part, and an air spring membrane that is connected to the first housing part and to the second housing part. The air spring membrane includes a flexible material and a reinforcing structure that is disposed within the flexible material to resist torsion loads that are applied to the second housing part by the ball screw actuator.

Methods and apparatus to determine vehicle weight are disclosed. An example apparatus includes a vehicle controller configured to control a motor operatively coupled to a suspension system to raise or lower a vehicle. The vehicle controller is to also determine a first parameter of the motor while controlling the motor to raise or lower the vehicle when the vehicle is unloaded. The vehicle controller is to also determine a second parameter of the motor while controlling the motor to raise or lower the vehicle when the vehicle is at least partially loaded. The vehicle controller is to also calculate a weight of the vehicle based on the first and second parameters of the motor.

Disclosed are a system, a method, and an apparatus for controlling a suspension using image data captured by an image sensor. The suspension control apparatus includes at least one image sensor mounted to an own vehicle to capture image data of the surrounding environment of the own vehicle, and a controller configured to control the own vehicle based on the image data captured by the at least one image sensor, wherein the controller receives the image data from the at least one image sensor, extracts suspension control reference information including at least one of road environment information, own vehicle surrounding object information, and own vehicle state information based on the image data and/or an in-vehicle sensor of the own vehicle, and generates a control signal for controlling the height of a suspension according to the suspension control reference information.

An acceleration of a head of an occupant of a vehicle relative to the vehicle is determined based on data describing motion of the vehicle and respective poses of the head from a plurality of consecutive frames of image data. A vehicle suspension is adjusted based on the determined acceleration.

Methods and apparatus to determine vehicle weight are disclosed. An example apparatus includes a suspension airbag, a pump fluidly coupled to the suspension airbag, the pump to control a fluid pressure in the suspension airbag to cause ride height adjustments for a vehicle, a motor operatively coupled to the pump, and processor circuitry to calculate a weight of the vehicle based on an offset between (a) a first motor input that causes the vehicle to rise or lower when the vehicle is unloaded and (b) a second motor input that causes the vehicle to rise or lower when the vehicle is carrying a load.

A bed truck having multiple axles has a hydraulic suspension including multiple hydraulic cylinders for each axle, a ride height sensor associated with each hydraulic cylinder, a high pressure hydraulic circuit connecting each of the cylinders and accumulators to a hydraulic pressure source, a low pressure hydraulic circuit connecting each of the cylinders to a fluid tank, and a plurality of valves operable to isolate operation of any one hydraulic cylinder from some or all of the other hydraulic cylinders. A control system is operable to control each of the hydraulic cylinders, either independently of all the other hydraulic cylinders, or in concert with one or more other hydraulic cylinders, such control including locking any one or more of the hydraulic cylinders at a minimum ride height position.

A method of controlling a suspension system of a vehicle includes identifying an amplitude and a frequency of at least one harmonic event in a topology of a surface to be traversed by the vehicle, and, with a controller, altering at least one response characteristic of at least one adjustable component of the suspension system based on at least one of the amplitude and frequency of the harmonic event. Systems and methods relate to controlling vehicle suspension systems.

In some embodiments, a range sensor is configured to detect a distance between a portion of a vehicle and an object above the portion of the vehicle. In some embodiments, the detected distance may be presented to an operator to allow the operator to control a height of an adjustable suspension in order to manually control the distance. In some embodiments, the detected distance may be used to automatically control the distance. In some embodiments, the distance may be controlled in order to allow the vehicle to couple to the object, such as a fifth wheel of the vehicle coupling to a kingpin of a trailer.

A suspension controller includes a wheel speed sensor that detects the wheel speed of each wheel, a basic input amount calculating unit that calculates the basic input amount of the vehicle on the basis of a wheel speed variation detected by the wheel speed sensor, a state amount calculating unit that calculates the state amount of the vehicle by inputting the basic input amount to a vehicle model representing the motion of the vehicle, and a damper controlling unit that controls the damping force of a damping-force-variable damper on the basis of the calculated state amount. If the wheel speed variation detected by the wheel speed sensor decreases below zero by a predetermined value or more on the minus side, the vertical load of the wheel is considered to be decreased, and the damping force is controlled to be greater than before the decrease.

A suspension system includes a spring assembly including a gas spring and an accumulator, and a controller. The accumulator is coupled to the gas spring and includes a bladder. The accumulator has a compressed state and an uncompressed state. The controller is configured to a) determine a target amount of gas in the spring assembly and b) adjust the amount of gas in the spring assembly towards the target amount of gas based on a pressure difference across the bladder.