Hydro-Pneumatic Energy Harvesting Suspension System Using a PSO Based PID Controller

In this article, a unique design for Hydro-Pneumatic Energy Harvesting Suspension HPEHS system is introduced. The design includes a hydraulic rectifier to maintain one-way flow direction in order to obtain maximum power generation from the vertical oscillation of the suspension system and achieve handling and comfort car drive. A mathematical model is presented to study the system dynamics and non-linear effects for HPEHS system. A simulation model is created by using Advanced Modeling Environment Simulations software (AMESim) to analyze system performance. Furthermore, a co-simulation platform model is developed using Matlab-Simulink and AMESim to optimize the PID controller parameters of the external variable load resistor applied on the generator by using Particle Swarm Optimization (PSO). The results showed that the proposed design and PID-PSO controller was effective and practical for the regenerative suspension system since the maximum amplitude of vibration and settling time of the system is decreased compared to the uncontrolled system. The PID-PSO controller achieve the maximum riding comfort as the peak values of the acceleration and displacement is reduced by 14.5%, and 11.6% respectively. The average gained power of the HPEHS system with PID-PSO controller is approximately 200 W.