Design of a non-linear hybrid car suspension system using neural networks

A methodology for the design of active/hybrid car suspension systems with the goal to maximize passenger comfort (minimization of passenger acceleration) is presented. For this reason, a neural network (NN) controller is proposed, who corresponds to a Taylor series approximation of the (unknown) non-linear control function and the NN is due to the numerous local minima trained using a semi-stochastic parameter optimization method. Two cases A and B (continuous and discontinuous operation) are investigated and numerical examples illustrate the design methodology. (C) 2002 IMACS. Published by Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.