Experimental Validation of LQR Weight Optimization Using Bat Algorithm Applied to Vibration Control of Vehicle Suspension System

Abstract

To deal with multiple constraints of vehicle active suspension system (ASS) including road handling and passenger safety, this paper presents an optimal linear quadratic regulator (LQR) approach which employs bat algorithm (BA) for selection of optimal state and input penalty matrices of LQR. We formulate the conflicting control objectives of ASS, namely, ride comfort and passenger safety as a multi-constraint optimization problem and employ the BA for weight selection of LQR. The key advantage of the proposed approach is that the local optima problem is avoided by utilizing the frequency tuning and random walk technique in BA. The performance of the proposed approach is experimentally tested using hardware in loop (HIL) testing on a quarter car ASS for realistic road profiles. Moreover, the performance is benchmarked against grey wolf optimization tuned LQR. Experimental results assessed based on ISO 2631 standards highlight the significant improvement in the ride comfort and passenger safety.

Keywords:

• Active suspension system
• LQR
• Bat algorithm
• HIL testing
• Disturbance rejection

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

The authors greatly acknowledge the Vellore Institute of Technology, Vellore, for providing the laboratory support to conduct the experimental analysis for this research work.

DISCLOSURE STATEMENT

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Notes on contributors

T. Yuvapriya

T Yuvapriya received the BE degree in electronics and instrumentation engineering from Thangavelu Engineering College, Chennai, ME control and instrumentation engineering from College of Engineering, Guindy, Anna University, Chennai, and PhD in EEE Department, College of Engineering, Guindy, Chennai, Tamil Nadu. She is working as teaching fellow in the Department of Electrical and Electronics Engineering, College of Engineering, Guindy, Anna University, Chennai. She published several articles in international conferences and journals. Her areas of interest are vibration control, control systems and optimization techniques.

P. Lakshmi

P Lakshmi received her BE degree from Government College of Technology, Coimbatore, masters and PhD degrees from College of Engineering, Guindy, Anna University, Chennai. Presently, she is working as a professor, EEE Department, College of Engineering, Guindy, Chennai, Tamil Nadu. She published papers in many national and international conferences and national and international journals. Her areas of interest are intelligent controllers, process control and power system stability. Email: [email protected]

Vinodh Kumar Elumalai

E Vinodh Kumar received the BE degree in electrical and electronics engineering from Madras University, the ME degree in control systems from Anna University, and the PhD degree in electrical engineering from Anna University, India in 2004, 2007 and 2014, respectively. He is working as an associate professor in the School of Electrical Engineering, Vellore Institute of Technology, India. His research interests include signal processing, machine learning, adaptive control and optimal control. Email: [email protected]