Design of a Bandwidth-limited Active Suspension Controller for Off-Road Vehicle Based on the Co-simulation Technology

In order to reduce the development time and cost of vehicle control systems, the co-simulation approach has been paid great attention recently, which combines the advantages of different software packages and provide the means of rapid iteration of control algorithm and insight into its effects on vehicle performance in design stage. This paper presents the design process of a controller for bandwidth-limited active hydro-pneumatic suspension employed by an off-road vehicle based on the co-simulation technology. First, a detailed multi-body dynamic model of the vehicle is established by using ADAMS/View software package. Second, aiming at achieving high ride quality and handling performance so as to increase the vehicle traveling speed even on rough terrain surfaces, a combined PID and fuzzy controller is designed for the bandwidth-limited active suspension system and then worked out by means of S-functions provided by Matlab/Simulink. Third, the proposed control algorithm is integrated with the multi-body dynamic vehicle model by Control Interface and thus the co-simulation can be running repeatedly until a more practical controller is achieved. In the end, the proposed active suspension system is compared with conventional passive system. Simulation results show that the proposed active suspension system considerably improve both the ride and handling performance of the vehicle and therefore increase the maximum traveling speeds even on rough road surfaces.