US-12617249-B2 - Apparatus for and method of controlling vehicular suspension and damper

US12617249B2US 12617249 B2US12617249 B2US 12617249B2US-12617249-B2

Abstract

Proposed is an apparatus for controlling a vehicular suspension and damper, the apparatus including a navigation module configured to provide a processor with information on a road on which a vehicle travels; and the processor configured to determine, on the basis of curvature radius information among the pieces of information received through the navigation module, whether or not a road ahead is a curved driving road and to determine whether or not the curved driving road ahead is the curved driving road in which it is necessary to control vehicular height, rigidity, and damping of a vehicle, wherein the processor controls the vehicular height, rigidity, and damping of the vehicle according to a preset stepwise control technique when the vehicle reaches a predetermined stepwise control point.

Inventors

Seung Hee YOON

Assignees

HYUNDAI MOBIS CO., LTD.

Dates

Publication Date: 20260505
Application Date: 20240515
Priority Date: 20230519

Claims (16)

1 . An apparatus for controlling a vehicular suspension and damper, the apparatus comprising: a navigation module configured to provide a processor with information on a road on which a vehicle travels; and the processor configured to determine, based on curvature radius information included in the information received through the navigation module, whether or not a road ahead is a curved driving road and in response to a determination that the road ahead is the curved driving road, the processor configured to determine whether or not it is necessary to control vehicular height, rigidity, and damping of a vehicle on the curved driving road, wherein the processor controls the vehicular height, rigidity, and damping of the vehicle according to a preset stepwise control technique when the vehicle reaches a plurality of stepwise control points, wherein the processor is configured to determine the plurality of stepwise control points according to a distance before or after a target point for the curved driving road, which corresponds to a starting point for the curved driving road.
2 . The apparatus of claim 1 , further comprising: a suspension drive module configured to adjust the vehicular height by driving the vehicular suspension in response to a control signal of the processor; and a damper drive module configured to control a damping force of a damper installed between a vehicular body and each axle in response to a control signal of the processor.
3 . The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the processor is configured to control the vehicular height, rigidity, and damping through control by default or control the vehicular height, rigidity, and damping according to the preset stepwise control technique, depending on whether or not the vehicle reaches the plurality of stepwise control points.
4 . The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the processor is configured to output a vehicular height control enabling signal for starting to control the vehicular height when the vehicle reaches a point at a second distance away from the target point.
5 . The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the processor is configured to gradually output a vehicular height control enabling signal for starting to control the rigidity and damping, according to a predetermined gradient when the vehicle reaches a point at a third distance away from the target point.
6 . The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the processor is configured to control the vehicular height, rigidity, and damping through control by default before the vehicle reaches a point at a second distance away from the target point and after the vehicle passes through an ending point for the curved driving road.
7 . The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the processor is configured to control the vehicular height, rigidity, and damping in a predetermined condition, but controls the vehicular height to decrease to a lower level than in a current state and controls the rigidity and damping to increase to a higher level than in a current state, under a predetermined first condition (a condition for Mode 1) that a curvature radius R(m) of the curved driving road on which the vehicle currently travels is smaller than a first curvature radius R_big of the curved driving road and equal to or greater than a second curvature radius R-mid (R_mid≤R(m)<R_big) and that a vehicular speed V(m/s) is greater than a first reference speed Vth1 (V(m/s)>Vth1).
8 . The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the processor is configured to control the vehicular height, rigidity, and damping in a predetermined condition, but controls the vehicular height to return to a predetermined normal height and controls the rigidity and damping to return to respective predetermined normal states thereof, under a second condition (a condition for Mode 2) that a curvature radius R(m) of the curved driving road on which the vehicle currently travels is smaller than a second curvature radius R_mid of the curved driving road and equal to or greater than a third curvature radius R-small (R_small≤R(m)<R_mid), and that a vehicular speed V(m/s) is greater than a second reference speed Vth2 (V(m/s)>Vth2).
9 . A method of controlling a vehicular suspension and damper, the method comprising: receiving, by a processor, information on a road on which a vehicle currently travels, through a navigation module; determining, by the processor, based on curvature radius information included in the received information, whether or not a road ahead is a curved driving road; in response to a determination that the road ahead is the curved driving road, determining, by the processor, whether or not it is necessary to control vehicular height, rigidity, and damping of the vehicle on the curved driving road; and in response to a determination that it is necessary to control vehicular height, rigidity, and damping of the vehicle on the curved driving road, controlling, by the processor, the vehicular height, rigidity, and damping of the vehicle according to a preset stepwise control technique when the vehicle reaches a plurality of stepwise control points, the method further comprising: determining the plurality of stepwise control points according to a distance before or after a target point for the curved driving road, which corresponds to a starting point for the curved driving road.
10 . The method according to claim 9 , further comprising: adjusting the vehicular height by driving the vehicular suspension in response to a control signal of the processor; and controlling a damping force of a damper installed between a vehicular body and each axle in response to a control signal of the processor.
11 . The method according to claim 9 , further comprising: controlling the vehicular height, rigidity, and damping through control by default or control the vehicular height, rigidity, and damping according to the preset stepwise control technique, depending on whether or not the vehicle reaches the plurality of stepwise control points.
12 . The method according to claim 9 , further comprising: outputting a vehicular height control enabling signal for starting to control the vehicular height when the vehicle reaches a point at a second distance away from the target point.
13 . The method according to claim 9 , further comprising: gradually outputting a vehicular height control enabling signal for starting to control the rigidity and damping, according to a predetermined gradient when the vehicle reaches a point at a third distance away from the target point.
14 . The method according to claim 9 , further comprising: controlling the vehicular height, rigidity, and damping through control by default before the vehicle reaches a point at a second distance away from the target point and after the vehicle passes through an ending point for the curved driving road.
15 . The method according to claim 9 , further comprising: controlling the vehicular height, rigidity, and damping in a predetermined condition, but controls the vehicular height to decrease to a lower level than in a current state and controls the rigidity and damping to increase to a higher level than in a current state, under a predetermined first condition (a condition for Mode 1) that a curvature radius R(m) of the curved driving road on which the vehicle currently travels is smaller than a first curvature radius R_big of the curved driving road and equal to or greater than a second curvature radius R-mid (R_mid≤R(m)<R_big) and that a vehicular speed V(m/s) is greater than a first reference speed Vth1 (V(m/s)>Vth1).
16 . The method according to claim 9 , further comprising: controlling the vehicular height, rigidity, and damping in a predetermined condition, but controls the vehicular height to return to a predetermined normal height and controls the rigidity and damping to return to respective predetermined normal states thereof, under a second condition (a condition for Mode 2) that a curvature radius R(m) of the curved driving road on which the vehicle currently travels is smaller than a second curvature radius R_mid of the curved driving road and equal to or greater than a third curvature radius R-small (R_small≤R(m)<R_mid), and that a vehicular speed V (m/s) is greater than a second reference speed Vth2 (V(m/s)>Vth2).

Description

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION This application claims priority from and the benefit of Korean Patent Application No. 10-2023-0064918, filed on May 19, 2023, which is hereby incorporated by reference for all purposes as if set forth herein. BACKGROUND Field Exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure relate to an apparatus for and a method of controlling a vehicular suspension and damper and, more particularly, to apparatus for and a method of controlling a vehicular suspension and damper, the apparatus and the method being capable of controlling a suspension and a damper of a vehicle on a curved driving road on which the vehicle travels, to adjust the feeling of riding comfort. Discussion of the Background Typically, a vehicular suspension, also referred to as a suspension system, is installed in such a manner as to be connected to a vehicular axle. The vehicular suspension is configured to include a chassis spring buffering a shock from a road surface, a damper (or a shock absorber) enhancing the feeling of riding comfort by controlling the free vibration of the chassis spring, a stabilizer bar preventing vehicular rolling, and the like. The damper here connects the vehicular axle and a vehicular body in the vehicular suspension and thus prevents vibration and shock, transferred from the road surface to the vehicular, from being transferred to the vehicular body. Thus, goods loaded onto a vehicular loading bay, as well as the vehicular body, can be prevented from being damaged. In recent years, electronic controller suspensions (ECS) that automatically adjust the rigidity of the suspension according to the traveling situation and the state of the road surface have been mounted on vehicles. The ECS obtains driving state information, such as vehicle speed, steering angle, and vehicular-body vertical acceleration, as well as road surface information, using various sensors. The ECS can automatically control a spring rate of the suspension, a damping force of the damper, vehicular body positioning, vehicular height, and the like according to the state of the road surface in an electronic manner. However, vehicles in the related art control the suspension on the basis of the state information of the road surface that can be obtained through a sensor. Because of this, in a case where the vehicle travels a curved driving road that has no relationship with the state of the road surface, the suspension and the damper cannot be controlled to detect the curved driving road or adjust the feeling of riding comfort through the sensor. The related art of the present invention is disclosed in Korean Patent Application Publication No. 10-2019-0128290 (published on Nov. 18, 2019). SUMMARY Various embodiments, which are made to address the above-mentioned problem, are directed to an apparatus for and a method of controlling a suspension and a damper of a vehicle on a curved driving road on which the vehicle travels, to adjust the feeling of riding comfort. According to an aspect of the present disclosure, there is provided an apparatus for controlling a vehicular suspension and damper, the apparatus including: a navigation module configured to provide a processor with information on a road on which a vehicle travels; and the processor configured to determine, on the basis of curvature radius information among the pieces of information received through the navigation module, whether or not a road ahead is a curved driving road and to determine whether or not the curved driving road ahead is the curved driving road in which it is necessary to control vehicular height, rigidity, and damping of a vehicle, wherein the processor controls the vehicular height, rigidity, and damping of the vehicle according to a preset stepwise control technique when the vehicle reaches a predetermined stepwise control point. In an embodiment, the apparatus may further include a suspension drive module adjusting the vehicular height by driving the suspension in response to a control signal of the processor; and a damper drive module controlling a damping force of a damper installed between a vehicular body and each axle in response to a control signal of the processor. In an embodiment, in the apparatus, the processor may determine a plurality of the stepwise control points according to a distance before or after a target point for the curved driving road, which corresponds to a starting point for the curved driving road. In an embodiment, in the apparatus, the processor may control the vehicular height, rigidity, and damping through control by default or may control the vehicular height, rigidity, and damping according to the preset stepwise control technique, depending on whether or not the vehicle reaches the stepwise control point. In an embodiment, in the apparatus, the processor may output a vehicular height control enabling signal for starting to control the vehicular height when the vehicle reaches a point at a second distance aw