Ride comfort control of in-wheel motor drive unmanned ground vehicles with energy regeneration

Adopting in-wheel motor drive can improve vehicle dynamics control functions, which is the most ideal drive mode of unmanned ground vehicle. However, with the increase of the heavy unspring-mass vibration energy while the vehicle running on uneven road, the ride comfort will be seriously deteriorated. To solve the problem and save energy, the ride comfort control based on regenerative suspensions is adopted. By analyzing the vibration performance, the adverse effects of the vehicle equipped in-wheel motors with passive suspensions are revealed. Then, the dynamics model of the regenerative suspension is built. Based on the suspension power recovery, the multi-state optimal control strategy for improving the ride comfort is designed. Finally, comparing the simulation results of regenerative suspensions with the test results of passive suspensions, when the vehicle mass ratio decreases from 8:1 to 4:1, the body acceleration and the root mean square value of tire dynamic load increase by 28.1% and 31.6%, correspondingly. With the control method, the body acceleration is decreased by 23% and reaches the level of conventional vehicles. Furthermore, part of the vehicle vibration energy can be recovered and the vehicle driving range can be extended.