Improved Model and Physical Prototype of an Online Corrective Look-Ahead Road Profiling System (CLARPS) for Active Suspension Applications

Today in the automotive industry, vehicles are continually seeing improvement of their ride handling and comfort by using active control systems. However, most commercially available suspension systems only boast semi-active control which regulates the damping characteristics of a vehicle suspension. Currently, there is no commercially viable method for suspension actuators to reduce cabin oscillations experienced by vehicle occupants. Online road profiling capability is required for automotive active suspension systems to be realized in a consumer and commercial landscape. One challenge that impedes the realization of these systems is the need for the online road profiler to maintain an optimal spatial resolution of the oncoming road profile. Shifting of the road profiling sensor measurement frame of reference due to body motion experienced by the vehicle can negatively impact profiling accuracy. A corrective look-ahead road profiling system (CLARPS) was recently proposed. Prior work demonstrated the CLARPS architecture and initial MATLAB/Simulink simulation environment. First, this work further develops the robust simulation environment. The simulation allows the look-ahead viewing angles to be optimized for the best road profile spatial resolution. The simulation also facilitates a study on the impact of road profiler sensor location on the accuracy of the generated road profile. Second, this work introduces a lab-scale physical CLARPS prototype. The CLARPS prototype is validated through the use of an established testbench and test cases, with empirically gathered road profile results.