Controlling the magnetorheological suspension of a vehicle seat including the biomechanics of the driver

Abstract

This paper presents an original approach to the problem of controlling a magnetorheological suspension of a driver's seat for optimal reduction of whole-body vibration. The concept consists in taking into consideration the individual personal features (biomechanical parameters) of the driver in the control process of a MR damper by using human generated signals. The proposed algorithm enables the adaptation of the suspension for an individual driver and specific road conditions. The actual research has focused on numerical simulations with a complex model of the human-seat-vehicle system. The human model representing a specific driver has been described by several biomechanical parameters such as masses of body structures, moments of inertia, and stiffness and damping of the spine, intervertebral discs, spinal muscles and ligaments.