Vehicle center of gravity active suspension control system
First Claim
1. A center of gravity control system for a vehicle, comprising:
- a plurality of ground engaging traction devices connected to the vehicle by suspension elements;
a plurality of actuators connected to the suspension elements, the plurality of actuators configured to be activated to shift a center of gravity of the vehicle;
a plurality of sensors positioned about the vehicle; and
a controller connected to each of said plurality of actuators,said controller configured to receive information from said plurality of sensors, said information relating to at least one of mass distributions of the vehicle and mass distributions of loads carried by the vehicle thereby defining distributed masses, andsaid controller configured to compute a detected center of gravity of the vehicle based on the information andto compute at least one alteration of said actuators needed to reduce a value of a difference between said detected center of gravity of the vehicle and a desired center of gravity using a fuzzy relations control strategy,wherein based on the computed alteration said controller is configured to activate at least one of said plurality of actuators connected to the suspension elements of the vehicle to shift the center of gravity of the vehicle.
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Abstract
A method of controlling a vehicle suspension system including the steps of detecting, computing and altering the center of gravity of the vehicle. The detecting step includes the detecting of a center of gravity of the vehicle thereby defining a detected center of gravity. The computing step includes computing what alteration of a plurality of actuators is needed to substantially reduce a value of a difference between the detected center of gravity and a preferred center of gravity using a fuzzy relations control strategy. The computing step is carried out in a controller. The altering step includes altering the center of gravity of the vehicle by way of the controller actuating at least one of the actuators connected to suspension elements of the vehicle dependent upon the alteration arrived at in the computing step.
30 Citations
20 Claims
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1. A center of gravity control system for a vehicle, comprising:
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a plurality of ground engaging traction devices connected to the vehicle by suspension elements; a plurality of actuators connected to the suspension elements, the plurality of actuators configured to be activated to shift a center of gravity of the vehicle; a plurality of sensors positioned about the vehicle; and a controller connected to each of said plurality of actuators, said controller configured to receive information from said plurality of sensors, said information relating to at least one of mass distributions of the vehicle and mass distributions of loads carried by the vehicle thereby defining distributed masses, and said controller configured to compute a detected center of gravity of the vehicle based on the information and to compute at least one alteration of said actuators needed to reduce a value of a difference between said detected center of gravity of the vehicle and a desired center of gravity using a fuzzy relations control strategy, wherein based on the computed alteration said controller is configured to activate at least one of said plurality of actuators connected to the suspension elements of the vehicle to shift the center of gravity of the vehicle. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10)
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11. A method of controlling a center of gravity of a vehicle, the method comprising:
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detecting the center of gravity of the vehicle thereby defining a detected center of gravity; computing at least one alteration of a plurality of actuators needed to reduce a value of a difference between said detected center of gravity and a preferred center of gravity using a fuzzy relations control strategy, said computing step being carried out in a controller and said plurality of actuators configured to be activated to shift the center of gravity of the vehicle; and altering the center of gravity of the vehicle by way of said controller actuating at least one of said actuators connected to suspension elements of the vehicle dependent upon said alteration arrived at in said computing step. - View Dependent Claims (12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20)
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Specification