Title: A coordinated control system for truck cabin suspension based on model predictive control

Authors: Yukun Lu; Amir Khajepour; Amir Soltani

Addresses: Mechatronic Vehicle Systems Laboratory, University of Waterloo, 200 University Ave W, Waterloo, ON, N2L 3G1, Canada ' Mechatronic Vehicle Systems Laboratory, University of Waterloo, 200 University Ave W, Waterloo, ON, N2L 3G1, Canada ' Mechatronic Vehicle Systems Laboratory, University of Waterloo, 200 University Ave W, Waterloo, ON, N2L 3G1, Canada

Abstract: Truck drivers are constantly exposed to undesirable vibrations caused by uneven road surfaces, especially in long-distance transportations. Nowadays, a truck is usually equipped with two suspension systems, namely the primary and the cabin suspensions. The cabin suspension acts as a vibration isolation system between truck chassis and driver cabin. Different techniques have been proposed to eliminate undesired vibrations transmitted to drivers, among which the semi-active cabin suspension is one of the most effective approaches. In this study, a coordinated semi-active suspension system for improving ride comfort in vertical, roll, and pitch directions is introduced. To solve this constrained multi-objective optimisation problem, the model predictive control (MPC) is utilised. Meanwhile, the Skyhook control is considered as a benchmark. These two controllers are examined through the cosimulation between ADAMS/Car and MATLAB/Simulink. The results demonstrate that MPC has significant advantages over Skyhook in terms of optimising cabin dynamics and improving ride comfort.

Keywords: semi-active suspension; MPC; model predictive control; coordinated control; truck cabin system; ride comfort.

DOI: 10.1504/IJHVS.2022.128920

International Journal of Heavy Vehicle Systems, 2022 Vol.29 No.5, pp.518 - 536

Received: 05 May 2022
Accepted: 30 May 2022
Published online: 10 Feb 2023 *

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