Dynamic-Domain H∞ Control for Automotive Electronically Controlled Suspension under Pulse Inputs

When subjected to road pulse inputs such as speed bumps, automotive suspension systems often generate vibrations that reduce ride comfort. The stochastic nature of these inputs makes their timely and precise identification difficult, thereby posing a challenge for targeted control using electronically controlled suspensions (ECS). To address this problem, this study develops a dynamic model of an active suspension system and analyzes the vibration suppression performance of two control strategies: full-frequency H = and finite-frequency H ∞ A novel Dynamic-Domain H ∞ (DD H ) control strategy is proposed, enabling frequency-specific control within a dynamically adjustable frequency range. Since pulse inputs are typically characterized by short duration and unpredictable occurrence, a bi-verifier mechanism is designed for accurate detection. Using the sprung mass acceleration as the sole measurement parameter, the method integrates real-time wavelet analysis with a speed-dependent dynamic threshold to ensure precise entry into and exit from pulse-specific control modes. Furthermore, the Hilbert transform is employed to identify the instantaneous frequency at different stages of the pulse input, enabling real-time updates of the DD H ∞ control gain matrix. Simulation results demonstrate that the proposed DD H ∞ strategy provides superior performance compared with conventional controllers in terms of ride comfort. Under pulse input (speed bump) conditions, the DD H ∞ controller achieves faster attenuation of vertical vibrations and reduces the vibration dose value (VDV) by 25%. Finally, road experiments on a test vehicle equipped with an ECS system validate the simulation results, confirming the effectiveness of the proposed control strategy.