Method of controlling a semi-active chassis

Claim 1

Method of controlling a semi-active chassis of a vehicle with variable dashpots having controlled valves, a wheel mass and a body, comprising the steps of: measuring a difference between the speed of the wheel mass and that of the body; measuring acceleration of the body, and selectively speed of the body; forming input parameters from said measuring steps for controls generating a parameter for adjusting resilience of said dashpots; distinguishing between once-only roadway excitation and periodic roadway excitation when said controls detect a roadway excitation (X E ); generating an output parameter I R by said controls in the event of a once-only excitation in accordance with either a skyhook principle or Huang's algorithm to construct a parameter for varying said resilience (D); detecting by said controls long-wave excitation in the event of periodic excitation such that a mathematical sign of body acceleration (a a ) does not change during a period (T L ) defining long-wave excitation, said controls detecting short-wave excitation wherein intervals (T) between signals hardening resilience are compared with half a period (T K ) defining short-wave excitation such that, when T<T K , said controls will generate an output parameter that softens the resilience and, when long-wave excitation is detected, said controls will generate an output parameter that hardens the resilience; said controls generating an output parameter in accordance with an algorithm for once-only excitation in event of periodic excitation when neither short-wave nor long-wave excitation is detected.