Fuzzy Sky-Ground Hook Control of a Tracked Vehicle Featuring Semi-Active Electrorheological Suspension Units

Abstract

This paper presents vibration control of a tracked vehicle installed with electro-rheological suspension units (ERSU). As a first step, a double-rod type ERSU is designed on the basis of the Bingham model of commercially available ER fluid, and its spring and damping characteristics are evaluated with respect to the intensity of electric fields. Subsequently, a 16 degree-of-freedom model for a tracked vehicle featuring the ERSU is established followed by the formulation of a new sky-ground hook controller. This controller takes account for both ride quality and steering stability by adopting a weighting parameter between two performance requirements. The parameter is appropriately determined by employing a fuzzy algorithm associated with two fuzzy variables: the vertical speed of the body and the rotational angular speed of the wheel. Control performances to isolate the vibration from bump and random road excitations are evaluated through computer simulations.