Adaptive backstepping-based control design for uncertain nonlinear active suspension system with input delay

This paper addresses the control problem of adaptive backstepping control for a class of nonlinear active suspension systems considering the model uncertainties and actuator input delays and presents a novel adaptive backstepping-based controller design method. Based on the established nonlinear active suspension model, a projector operator-based adaptive control law is first developed to estimate the uncertain sprung-mass online, and then the desirable controller design and stability analysis are conducted by combining backstepping technique and Lyapunov stability theory, which can not only deal with the actuator input delay but also achieve better dynamics performances and safety constraints requirements of the closed-loop control system. Furthermore, the relationship between the input delay and the state variables of this vehicle suspension system is derived to present a simple and effective method of calculating the critical input delay. Finally, a numerical simulation investigation is provided to illustrate the effectiveness of the proposed controller.