Active Control of Vehicle Suspension System with Robust Control

In this paper, we propose a novel robust state-feedback \({{\mathcal{H}}_{\infty }}\) control design method for active seat suspension systems, aiming to enhance passenger comfort in uncertain road conditions. Our approach minimizes the impact of road disturbances on vertical acceleration experienced by the human body, while explicitly considering constraints on suspension stroke deflection to ensure system reliability. We model the suspension system as a three degree-of-freedom (3-DOF) system and derive new synthesis conditions in terms of Linear Matrix Inequalities (LMIs). Simulation results demonstrate the superior performance of our strategy compared to a passive suspension system and a pole-placement controller, achieving a reduction in the peak of the maximum singular value from 57.107 to 4.554. Additionally, our controller reduces the maximum control force from 1000 N (for the pole-placement controller) to 640.5 N, indicating improved energy efficiency. These results highlight significant improvements in passenger comfort, suspension deflection management, and control effort.