Mathematical Problems in Engineering
Volume 2012 (2012), Article ID 218106, 21 pages
http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2012/218106
Research Article

Control of an Automotive Semi-Active Suspension

Jorge de Jesús Lozoya-Santos, Ruben Morales-Menendez, and Ricardo A. Ramírez Mendoza

Tecnológico de Monterrey, Campus Monterrey, Monterrey, NL, Mexico

Received 4 March 2012; Accepted 11 April 2012

Academic Editor: Claude Lamarque

Copyright © 2012 Jorge de Jesús Lozoya-Santos et al. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

Abstract

Two controllers for an automotive suspensions with Magneto-Rheological (MR) dampers are proposed. One is a model-based using the Linear Parameter Varying (LPV) approach, and the other is a model-free controller with a Frequency Estimation Based (FEB) principle. The LPV controller includes an experimental nonlinear model of an MR damper using only one scheduling parameter. A comparison with a several semiactive controllers for comfort and road holding is discussed. The FEB controller is the best option based on frequency and time response analysis for comfort (10–20%), suspension deflection (30–50%), and road holding (1–5%).