Modeling and vibration control of an active horizontal seat suspension with pneumatic muscles

In the following paper, the dynamic modeling of a horizontal seat suspension which uses pneumatic muscles for the purpose of active vibration control is discussed. An original control system structure is proposed in order to improve the vibro-isolation properties of a horizontal seat suspension system. The presented control system design is based on inverse models of the pneumatic muscles and the primary controller that calculates the desired active force. By using the configurable control algorithm developed in this paper, it is possible to achieve a significant reduction in vibrations transmitted into the human body with just a slight increasing of the suspension travel. The active seat shows improved performance over the passive system in the 1-10 Hz frequency range. The results presented in this paper are useful in selecting the horizontal vibration control system for improving the comfort of a drive.