An Experimental Assessment of the Online Tuning of Active Suspension Controller Gains

A model of an active suspension is developed, and a corresponding test stand is designed and constructed. The active suspension test stand is then subjected to a series of experiments to determine the feasibility of utilizing an online control scheme that is capable of automatically tuning itself for optimal performance. The experiments are designed to evaluate the control schemes utilizing both proportional and proportional plus integral plus derivative controller gain parameters. The methodology is a proof-of-concept that online tuning is a feasible means of maintaining optimal ride quality. A gradient-search is utilized on a simplified suspension (no tire), and the methodology is successful for the scenarios tested. The methodology should translate to a full-scale implementation with a more robust optimization scheme that is more suited for the nonlinearities accompanying the addition of a tire.