Hierarchical modeling of semi-active control of a full motorcycle suspension with six degrees of freedoms

Hierarchical control is a new control framework in the vehicle vibration control field. In this paper, a hierarchical modeling method is presented to form a different motorcycle model, compared to the traditional model with six degrees of freedoms (DOF), so as to construct hierarchical modeling control. The whole control framework is composed of a central control, two local controls and two uncontrollable parts. The front and rear wheel systems of a motorcycle are all dealt with by using two independent local 2-DOF systems. The driver and engine act as uncontrollable passive parts. The central control is composed of an algorithm made up of some dynamic equations that harmonize local relations. The vertical and pitch accelerations of the suspension center are treated as central control objects. With the help of Linear Quadratic Gaussian (LQG) algorithms adopted by two local controls, respectively, and Matlab software, some results of the simulation show that hierarchical modeling control requires less CPU time, reduces respond time and improves ride quality.