On the Optimal Predictive Control Algorithm for Comfort-Oriented Semi-Active Suspensions

The problem considered in this paper is the design and analysis of the optimal control strategy for comfort-oriented semi-active suspensions in road vehicles. The goal of this work is to study and analyze the best control algorithm, and to use it as a benchmark. It is shown that the best control algorithm is an on-off switching strategy, which is designed using the principles of optimal and predictive control, under the assumption that the road disturbance can be predicted over a short time-horizon. Even though this optimal control strategy can be computationally intensive in a real-time application, it sets a lower bound on the best possible attenuation performance achievable by semi-active damping control.