Fuzzy arithmetical controller design for active road vehicle suspension in the presence of uncertainties

Abstract

This paper presents a method for designing a robust controller for an active road vehicle suspension. Unlike conventional robust control techniques, a fuzzy arithmetical approach is used to configure a so-called skyhook damper. The presented method is based on the covariance analysis of a quarter car model which is subject to random roadway excitation. The resulting controller improves the driving comfort and safety, and it increases robustness against uncertainty due to modeling errors or variations in the operational conditions. The fuzzy arithmetical approach allows to incorporate additional information about the shape of the inherent uncertainty into the resulting controller design. Furthermore, a possibilistic sensitivity analysis is employed to assess the individual influence of the uncertain parameters on the controller quality, providing useful information for the design process.