Methods and apparatus to adjust vehicle suspension damping

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-12434525-B2
Application number	US-202318311152-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	May 2, 2023
Priority date	Aug 17, 2018
Publication date	Oct 7, 2025
Grant date	Oct 7, 2025

Abstract

Methods and apparatus to adjust vehicle suspension damping are disclosed herein. An example apparatus includes interface circuitry, machine readable instructions, and programmable circuitry to at least one of instantiate or execute the machine readable instructions to determine a terrain condition based on first wheel position data of a vehicle and second wheel position data of the vehicle, determine a damping command based on the terrain condition, and adjust a suspension of the vehicle based on the damping command.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. An apparatus comprising:
interface circuitry;
machine readable instructions; and
programmable circuitry to at least one of instantiate or execute the machine readable instructions to:
determine a terrain condition based on first wheel position data of a vehicle and second wheel position data of the vehicle, the determination of the terrain condition including:
generating filtered wheel position data by filtering the first wheel position data and the second wheel position data via a high-pass filter; and
calculating a power spectral density of the filtered wheel position data;

determine a damping command based on the terrain condition; and
adjust a suspension of the vehicle based on the damping command.

2. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the programmable circuitry is to further determine the damping command based on at least one of a speed of the vehicle, a speed sensitivity of the vehicle, or a balance of the vehicle.

3. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the damping command is a rebound damping command.

4. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the programmable circuitry is further to determine the damping command based on a dead zone of a throttle of the vehicle.

5. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the terrain condition includes a roughness of a road surface of the vehicle.

6. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the programmable circuitry is further to tune the high-pass filter based on at least one of a vehicle pitch and/or a vehicle roll.

7. A non-transitory machine readable storage medium comprising instructions to cause programmable circuitry to at least:
determine a terrain condition based on first wheel position data of a vehicle and second wheel position data of the vehicle, the determination of the terrain condition including:
generating filtered wheel position data by filtering the first wheel position data and the second wheel position data via high-pass filter; and
calculating a power spectral density of the filtered wheel position data;

determine a damping command based on the terrain condition; and
adjust a suspension of the vehicle based on the damping command.

8. The non-transitory machine readable storage medium of claim 7 , wherein the programmable circuitry is to further determine the damping command based on at least one of a speed of the vehicle, a speed sensitivity of the vehicle, or a balance of the vehicle.

9. The non-transitory machine readable storage medium of claim 7 , wherein the damping command is a rebound damping command.

10. The non-transitory machine readable storage medium of claim 7 , wherein the programmable circuitry is further to determine the damping command based on a dead zone of a throttle of the vehicle.

11. The non-transitory machine readable storage medium of claim 7 , wherein the terrain condition includes a roughness of a road surface of the vehicle.

12. The non-transitory machine readable storage medium of claim 7 , wherein the programmable circuitry is further to tune the high-pass filter on at least one of a vehicle pitch and/or a vehicle roll.

13. A method comprising:
determining a terrain condition based on first wheel position data of a vehicle and second wheel position data of the vehicle, the determining of the terrain condition including;
generating filtered wheel position data by filtering the first wheel position data and the second wheel position data via high-pass filter; and
calculating a power spectral density of the filtered wheel position data;

determining a damping command based on the terrain condition; and
adjusting a suspension of the vehicle based on the damping command.

14. The method of claim 13 , wherein the damping command is based on at least one of a speed sensitivity of the vehicle or a balance of the vehicle.

15. The method of claim 13 , wherein the damping command is a rebound damping command.

16. The method of claim 13 , further including determining the damping command based on a dead zone of a throttle of the vehicle.

17. The method of claim 13 , further including:
determining a base command via a command table and a speed of the vehicle; and
determining the damping command further based on the base command.

18. The method of claim 17 , wherein the command table is associated with at least one of a make of the vehicle or a model of the vehicle.

Assignees

• Ford Global Tech Llc

Inventors

• Paiva Chris
• Sawarynski Tom
• Thompson Steven
• Collins Daniel
• Bossio Geoffrey
• Michener Jason Wallace

Classifications

• B60G17/01933

  Velocity, e.g. relative velocity-displacement sensors · CPC title

• B60G2400/954

  Wheelbase · CPC title

• B60G2400/821

  Uneven, rough road sensing affecting vehicle body vibration · CPC title

• B60G2400/204

  Vehicle speed · CPC title

• B60G2500/10

  Damping action or damper · CPC title