Inventors:
Mehdi Ahmadian - Blacksburg VA
Brian Reichert - Lexington KY
Xubin Song - Blacksburg VA
Steve S. Southward - Apex NC
Assignee:
Lord Corporation - Cary NC
Virginia Tech Intellectual Properties, Inc. - Blacksburg VA
International Classification:
B60G 1708
Abstract:
A method of controlling a controllable force generator within a controllable suspension system interconnected between a first member M. sub. 1 and a second member M. sub. 2. The method includes the steps of obtaining a first signal (V. sub. abs) representative of the absolute velocity of the first member M. sub. 1, obtaining a second signal (V. sub. rel) representative of the relative velocity between the first and second members, and setting a desired damping force for the generator based upon a control policy which defines a control surface. The control policy includes a preselected gain, an absolute velocity, and a shaping function of relative velocity wherein said control surface exhibits only continuous first derivatives for V. sub. rel *V. sub. abs >0 and wherein the control surface is devoid of any surface discontinuities. This control policy effectively eliminates the jerkiness in certain prior art control methods, such as skyhook.