The seat of a passenger car is one of the most essential interfaces between the human body and the vehicle. Seat comfort is not only a question of putting the right cushions into the right contour. The overall impression of the ride comfort depends on how the passenger perceives the driving situation and road conditions transferred by the seat. Especially, vibrations caused by vertical bumps and potholes have a significant impact on the driver's comfort and must be reduced by the suspension ofthe seat. Suspension systems can be divided into passive, semi-active and active suspensions systems. At present time passive seat systems are usually applied in vehicles. By its suspension (cushion) design the isolation characteristic can be chosen within the range of soft and firm damping causing drawbacks either in the low or high frequency range. This paper describes the overall design of an active seat suspension system with two degrees of freedom in motion that is suitable for passenger cars due its compactness in size. By the proposed active seat suspension control a remarkable reduction of vibrations with respect to the driver's comfort is achieved. Thus, the active seat suspension offers an additional possibility to optimise the performance of vibration isolation of vehicles.
Active seat suspension for passenger cars
Aktive Sitzaufhängung für Personenkraftwagen
2005
6 Seiten, 6 Bilder, 10 Quellen
Conference paper
English