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Using the LQR control method on the active suspension system of

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 Hội nghị Cơ học toàn quốc lần thứ X, Hà Nội, 8-9/12/2017
Tập 1. Dynamics and Control

Using the LQR control method on the active suspension system of

automobiles
Thanh Hai Nguyen1,*, Van Tan Vu2, Manh Hung Dao2, Peter Gaspar3, Mihály András3, and
Trung Binh Ha4
1
Automobile Unit, Honda Vietnam Co., Hanoi, Vietnam
2
Department of Automotive Mechanical Engineering, University of Transport and Communications,
Hanoi, Vietnam
3
Systems and Control Laboratory, Institute for Computer Science and Control, Hungarian Academy of
Sciences, Budapest, Hungary
4
Department of Fire engines, University of Fire Fighting & Prevention, Hanoi, Vietnam
*Email: thanhhaickoto47@gmail.com

Abstract: The active suspension system is today widely used in the automobile industry
improving both comfort and road holding capabilities. This paper focuses on applying the Linear
Quadratic Regulator (LQR) control method to the active suspension system by using a half roll
automobile model. By skilfully transforming the state vector and the performance index J, we can
completely synthesize the controller that satisfies the design objectives of the controlled
suspension system. Three LQR controllers have been synthesized with the first controller
concentrating on road holding, while the second and third controllers focus on comfort. The
simulation results show that by changing the value of the weighting parameters, these three
controllers will generate different roles in improving comfort or road holding of automobiles.
Keywords: Vehicle dynamics, Active suspension system, LQR control, Comfort, Road holding.

1. Introduction
The suspension system is one of the most important systems of the automobile. Most cars today
use a passive suspension system that includes a damper and a spring to reduce the impact from the
road on the chassis body. The coefficient of spring stiffness and damping in this case is designed in a
static mode and it usually has a small change in a narrow range. Therefore, when the car moves, these
values may not be optimal for the vehicle behavior.
The controlled suspension system is today widely used in automobile industry improving both
comfort and road holding. There are two basic types of controlled suspension systems these are known
as active and semi-active. The active suspension system is often studied and is applied to luxury
automobiles that require high vibration quality and are often very expensive. Whereas the semi-active
suspension system, thanks to their low price and low energy consumption, is an effective solution to
apply to the normal commercial vehicles. However, the main features for the semi-active suspension
are often based on the active system [01], [04].
There are many works discussing the active suspension system. Yoshimura et al. presented the
construction of an active suspension control of a one-wheel car model using fuzzy reasoning and a
disturbance observer [05]. Mouleeswaran et al. presented work aimed at developing an active
suspension for the quarter car model of a passenger car to improve its performance by using a
2 Thanh Hai Nguyen, Van Tan Vu, Manh Hung Dao, Peter Gaspar, Mihály András, Trung Binh Ha

proportional integral derivative (PID) controller [08]. The LQR control method is also used for the
active suspension system by using the vehicle model of 2 and 3 DOFs [12], [04], [06], [03].
The main purpose of the active suspension system is to enhance vehicle comfort and improve
road holding. By using an automobile half roll model, the LQR control method is considered to
synthesize the controller. Hence, the contributions of this paper are the following:
 An automobile half roll model is used to evaluate the vibration characteristics of the passive
suspension, and to synthesize the controllers for the active suspension system. A passive
suspension system has a greater damping coefficient, the better road holding, while the smaller
damping coefficient, has better comfort.
 The LQR control method is used to synthesize three controllers for the purpose of enhancing
comfort and maintaining road holding capabilities. By skilfully transforming the state vector
and the performance index J, we can completely synthesize the controller that satisfies the
design goals of the controlled suspension system.
 The simulation results in the frequency domain compare the three LQR controllers with two
cases of the passive suspension: a hard and soft damping coefficient. It indicates that the LQR
controllers fully meet the design objective.
The paper is organized as follows: Section 2 presents an automobile half roll model. Section 3
shows the background on LQR control. Section 4 synthesizes the three LQR controllers for the active
suspension system. Section 5 presents the simulation results in the frequency domain. Finally, some
conclusions are drawn in section 6.

2. Vehicle modelling
Figure 1 describes a general half roll car model using the controlled suspension system. In this
model, the car body is assumed to be perfectly rigid such that all of the lateral weight transfer is
through the suspension. The model has four degrees of freedom: (1) the vertical displacement
expressed by Zz, (2) - the rotational motion α about the roll center (roll angle), and (3), (4) the vertical
displacement of the left and the right wheels denoted by Z1 and Z4. Disturbances of the roll model
result from the road roughness at the left and the right wheels q 1, q4. fd1 and fd4 are the forces
controlled on the left and the right, respectively.

Figure 1: Diagram of the general half roll car model.

 Using the LQR control method on the active suspension system of automobiles 3

The motion differential equations of the half roll model are formalized as follows:
 ..  . .
'   . .
, 
 I .    k12 .( Z1  Z1 )  c1.( Z1  Z1 )  .lL   k42 .( Z 4  Z 4 )  c4 .( Z 4  Z 4 )  .lR  lL . f d 1  lR . f d 4
' '

    
 .. . . . .
m . Z  k .( Z  Z ' )  k .( Z  Z ' )  c .( Z  Z ' )  c .( Z  Z ' )  f  f (1)
 Z Z 12 1 1 42 4 4 1 1 1 4 4 4 d1 d4

 .. . .
m1. Z1  k11.( Z1  q1 )  k12 .( Z1  Z1 )  c1.( Z1  Z1 )  f d 1
' '

 .. . .
m4 . Z 4  k41.( Z 4  q4 )  k42 .( Z 4'  Z 4 )  c4 .( Z 4'  Z 4 )  f d 4

The motion differential equations (1) can be written in the LTI state-space representation as:
 .
x  Ax  B1w  B2u
 (2)
 z  Cx  D1w  D2u

Where the control input d1 u [ f

d4 f ]T
. The exogenous disturbance 1 4 . The state
w  [q q ]T
vector x, the output vector z are skilfully selected, and often depend on the purpose of the control
design. In this study, the authors will use the three following different forms of the state and output
vectors when applying the LQR control method:
a- The first case:
The state and output vectors:
T T
   
x   , Z z , Z1 , Z 4 ,  , Z z , Z1 , Z 4  z  x   , Z z , Z1 , Z 4 ,  , Z z , Z1 , Z 4 
  ;  
b- The second case:
The state and output vectors:
T T
   
x   , Z z , Z1 , Z 4 ,  , Z z , Z1 , Z 4  ; z   , Z z ,  , Z z , Z1 , Z 4 
   
c- The third case:
T
 
The state vector: x   Z1 , Z1  q1 , Z 4 , Z 4  q4 , Z '1 , Z '1  Z1 , Z '4 , Z '4  Z 4  ;
 
T
 
The output vector: z  x   Z1 , Z1  q1 , Z 4 , Z 4  q4 , Z '1 , Z '1  Z1 , Z '4 , Z '4  Z 4 
 
Remark 01: A, B1, B2, C, D1, D2 are the matrices of appropriate dimensions. They are different
for each of the three cases mentioned above.

3. Background on LQR control

The LTI model is described by equation (2). For controller design, it is assumed that all the
states are available from measurements or can be estimated. Then, let us consider the state feedback
control law:
u   Kx (3)

3
4 Thanh Hai Nguyen, Van Tan Vu, Manh Hung Dao, Peter Gaspar, Mihály András, Trung Binh Ha

where K is the state feedback gain matrix. The optimization procedure consists in determining
the control input u which minimizes some performance index J. This index includes the performance
characteristic requirement as well as the controller input limitations, usually expressed by:

J   ( xT Qx  uT Ru  2 xT Nu )dt (4)
0

where Q, R, and N are positive definite weighting matrices. To obtain a solution for the
optimal controller (3), the LTI system must be stabilizable, which is true for the system (2). The gain
K minimizing (4) has the following form [10]: K  R1BT P (5)
where the matrix P is the solution of the algebraic Riccati equation:

AP  AT P  PBR1BT P  Q  0 (6)

The optimal closed-loop system is obtained from Equations (2), (3) and (5) as follows:

x  ( A  B2 K ) x  B 1 w (7)

Remark 02: The choice of the state vector x and the control input u will greatly affect the
finding of matrices Q, R, N.

4. Active suspension LQR control

According to the three representations and selections of the state vector x and the output vector
z in section 3. In this section, we design three controllers by using the LQR method. The performance
index J penalizes the state variables and the inputs, and it has the standard form as in equation (4).
4.1. First control design (LQR1):
The performance index J is chosen as follows:

J   ( 1  2  2 Z z2  3 Z12  4 Z 42  5 2  6 Z z2  7 Z12  8 Z 42 )dt (8)
0

where 1 8 are the weighting parameters of J. For this case, all variables of the state vector
is taken into account. The main aim of this choice is to focus on improving the road holding.
From equations (4) and (8), the matrices Q, R, N are defined as follows:
 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 
0  0 0 0 0 0 0  0 0
 2  0 0 
 0 0 3 0 0 0 0 0  
   R1 0  0 0
 0 0 0 4 0 0 0 0  ; R1    ;  
Q1   0 0
0 0 0 0 5 0 0 0   0 R2  N1 
0
  0
 
0 0 0 0 0 6 0 0  0 0
0 0 0 0 0 0  0  0
  0
7
 
0 0 0 0 0 0 0 8   0 0 

The choice of the performance index J in this case is the easiest for the LQR controller
synthesis.
 Using the LQR control method on the active suspension system of automobiles 5

4.2. Second control design (LQR2):

The performance index J is chosen as follows:

J   (1 Z z2  2  2  3 Z z2   4 2   5 Z12   6 Z 42 )dt (9)
0

where  1  6 are the weighting parameters of J. By changing the value of the  i , the controller
will focus on enhance either comfort or road holding. From equations (4) and (9), the matrices Q, R, N
are defined as follows:
Q11 Q12 Q13 Q14 Q15 Q16 Q17 Q18   N11 N12 
Q Q22 Q23 Q24 Q25 Q26 Q27 Q28  N
 12  21 N 22 
Q13 Q23 Q33 Q34 Q35 Q36 Q37 Q38   N 31 N 32 
   M1 M2   
Q24 Q34 Q44 Q45 Q46 Q47 Q48  ; R2   ;
Q2   M 4 
Q14
N 2  
N 41 N 42 
Q25 Q35 Q45 Q55 Q56 Q57 Q58 
M 3
Q N N 52 
 15   51 
Q16 Q26 Q36 Q46 Q56 Q66 Q67 Q68   N 61 N 62 
Q Q27 Q37 Q47 Q57 Q67 Q77 Q78  N
 17  71 N 72 
Q18 Q28 Q38 Q48 Q58 Q68 Q78 Q88   N81 N 82 

with the elements of the matrices Q2, R2, N2 ( Qi , j , M k , N p ,q ) depending on the weighting
parameters (  1  6 ) and the parameters of the system. Although defining these matrices takes a lot of
time, however it allows the controller to follow the control objectives.
4.3. Third control design (LQR3):
The performance index J is chosen as follows:

J   ( Z z2   2  1 (( Z1'  Z1 )2  ( Z 4'  Z 4 )2 )  2 Z z2  3 (( Z1  q1 )2  ( Z 4  q4 )2 )  4 ( Z12  Z 42 ))dt (10)
0

where 1 4 are the weighting parameters of J. The aim of this choice is to improve the
comfort and reduce the suspension deflections. From equations (4) and (10), the matrices Q, R, N are
defined as follows:
 H11 H12 H13 H14 H15 H16 H17 H18 
H  F11 F12 
H 22 H 23 H 24 H 25 H 26 H 27 H 28  F
 12  21 F22 
 H13 H 23 H 33 H 34 H 35 H 36 H 37 H 38  G1 G2   F31 F32 
 ; R3    ;  
Q3  
H14 H 24 H 34 H 44 H 45 H 46 H 47 H 48 
G3 G4 
N 3  
F41 F42 
H H 25 H 35 H 45 H 55 H 56 H 57 H 58  F F52 
 15   51 
 H16 H 26 H 36 H 46 H 56 H 66 H 67 H 68   F61 F62 
H H 27 H 37 H 47 H 57 H 67 H 77 H 78  F
 17  71 F72 
 H18 H 28 H 38 H 48 H 58 H 68 H 78 H 88   F81 F82 

Similar to the second case, the elements of the matrices Q3, R3, N3 depend on the weighting
parameters ( 1 4 ) and the parameters of the system. Of course they are different when compared
to the second case.
Remark 03: The value of the weighting parameters ( 1 8 , 1  6 , 1 4 ) will affect the
performance of the controllers. The choice of these values depends on the control objective.

5
6 Thanh Hai Nguyen, Van Tan Vu, Manh Hung Dao, Peter Gaspar, Mihály András, Trung Binh Ha

5. Simulation results analysis

As mentioned above, the two main goals when designing the controller are comfort and road
holding. Depending on the driving conditions and the driver's wishes, the controlled suspension

system will satisfy these two objectives. In this study, the authors use the vertical acceleration ( Z z )

and the roll acceleration (  ) of the sprung mass to evaluate comfort. Meanwhile the vertical
displacement of the un-sprung mass ( Z1,4 ) is considered for road holding.

In this section, the simulation results are shown in the frequency domain, to evaluate the
effectiveness of the proposed LQR active suspension controllers. The parameter values of the roll
model are given in [2]. Here, we compare the three LQR active suspension controllers with the two
cases of the passive suspension. The first case, when we use the hard passive damper (with a high
coefficient) of 8000 Ns/m. The second case, it is the soft passive damper (with a low coefficient) of
500 Ns/m. The value of the weighting parameters for the three controllers is chosen as follows:

The LQR1 controller: 1  2  3  4  7  8  1; 5  6  107 ; The LQR2 controller:

1   2  102 ; 3   4   5   6  102 ; The LQR3 controller: 1  4000; 2  3  4  0

Remark 04: We can completely select other values of weights according to other desired goals.

5.1. Analysis in the comfort orientation

Zz
Figure 2: Transfer function magnitude of the vertical acceleration of the sprung mass ( ).
q1
Figures 2 and 3 show the transfer function magnitude of the vertical acceleration and the roll
angle acceleration of the sprung mass, respectively. We can see that in the case of the passive
suspension system, when the damping coefficient is high, the comfort goals will not be satisfied. In
general the comfort performance is improved with the soft damping coefficient. However, in the
frequency range from 5 to 10 rad/s and from 75 to 83 rad/s, the comfort performance is not good with
the soft damper case. For the three proposed LQR controllers, the simulation results show that in the
case of the LQR1 controller, the comfort performance seems to be mediated by the two passive
 Using the LQR control method on the active suspension system of automobiles 7

suspension cases. In the frequency range up to 42 rad/s, the LQR2 controller is better than the LQR3
controller. Meanwhile, the LQR3 controller is better than the LQR2 controller from 42 rad/s. The
comfort performance is improved with the LQR2, LQR3 controllers when compared to the LQR1
controller. This fits with the controller design, because in case of the LQR1 controller, the vertical
acceleration and the roll angle acceleration are not taken into account.


Figure 3: Transfer function magnitude of the roll angle acceleration of the sprung mass ( ).
q1

Z1
Figure 4: Transfer function magnitude of the vertical displacement of the unsprung mass ( ).
q1

5.2. Analysis in the road holding orientation

Figure 4 shows the transfer function magnitude of the vertical displacement of the unsprung
mass on the left. For the passive suspension system, the road holding capability is always maintained
with the hard damping coefficient. With the soft damping coefficient, this criteria is not satisfied in the
frequency range from 40 rad/s. For the three LQR controllers, the road holding is improved in the
frequency range up to 40 rad/s. However in the high frequency range, there are significant differences.
The LQR1 controller always improves road holding, meanwhile there is a significant increase in the
case of the LQR3 controller. This result is again consistent with the controller design.

7
 8 Thanh Hai Nguyen, Van Tan Vu, Manh Hung Dao, Peter Gaspar, Mihály András, Trung Binh Ha

6. Conclusion
This paper presents the application of the LQR control method for the active suspension
system of cars. By skilfully transforming the state vector and the performance index J, we can
completely synthesize the controller that satisfies the design goals of the controlled suspension system.
The simulation results show that, for a passive suspension, the greater the damping coefficient, the
better the road holding capabilities, while with the smaller damping coefficient, the better the
improvement in comfort. Three LQR controllers have been synthesized and compared, with the first
controller concentrating on the road holding performance, while the second and third controllers focus
on the improvement in comfort. By changing the value of the weighting parameters, this control
method will generate different roles in improving comfort or road holding performance of cars.
The research results for this active suspension system are the background in building a semi-
active suspension, such as the "Clipped" method. In the future, other approaches such as H2/H∞ state
feedback control, will be applied, along with the use of observers to assess more deeply the
characteristics of the system.

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