Hardware-in-the-loop test setup for tuning semi-active hydraulic suspension systems

Suspension is an important vehicle system because it provides steering stability with good handling and comfort in d ifferent road conditions. Among the various types of suspension system, semi-active hydraulic suspension systems are becoming increasingly popular since they require minimal energy to be driven while offering very good performance compared to other solutions. The damping coefficient of semi-active dampers can be varied by adjusting the spool inside the proportional valve. To obtain the desired performance and damping force, a proper control system should be created and tested. However, currently testing and tuning suspension systems are time consuming and expensive and software-only simulations are not very accurate due to phenomena like fiction and hysteresis. This study proposes a light and cost-effective single board computer (SBC) based hardware-in-the-loop (HIL) simulation test setup for testing and tuning semi-active suspension systems. Another goal for test setup is improving usability of control units of HIL systems. The hydraulic test bench was built and tested by driving it through Raspberry Pi (RPi). The necessary signal processing circuits were developed and tested separately from the system. The IoT capabilities of the RPi were also validated by uploading and running Simulink model on the board and tuning model pa rameters during control system simulations.