Nonlinear Control Design of a Half-Car Model Using Feedback Linearization and an LQR Controller

Abstract

Effective control of ride quality and handling performance are challenges for active vehicle suspension systems, particularly for off-road applications. The nonlinearities tend to degrade the performance of active suspension systems; these introduce harshness to the ride quality and reduce off-road mobility. Typical control strategies rely on linear models of the suspension dynamics. While these models are convenient, nominally accurate, and controllable due to the abundance of linear control techniques, they neglect the nonlinearities present in real suspension systems. The techniques already implemented and methods used to cope with problem of Half-Car model were studied. Every method and technique had some drawbacks in terms of complexity, cost-effectiveness, and ease of real time implementation. In this paper, an improved control method for Half-Car model was proposed. First, input/output feedback linearization was performed to convert the nonlinear system of Half-Car model into an equivalent linear system. This was followed by a Linear Quadratic Regulator (LQR) controller. This controller had minimized the effects of road disturbances by designing a gain matrix with optimal robustness properties. The proposed control technique was applied in the presence of the deterministic road disturbance. The results were verified using the Matlab/Simulink toolbox.