# US 10,369,908 B2 · Vehicle seat active suspension control based on vehicle position > Agents: this data is available as JSON from the patentgrep API and MCP server — see https://patentgrep.com/llms.txt - Number: US 10,369,908 B2 - Document ID: US10369908B2 - Status: Granted - Kind: B2 - Application number: 16/016,490 - Filed: 2018-06-22 - Published: 2018-12-27 - Granted: 2019-08-06 - Earliest claimed: 2016-03-02 - Assignees: ClearMotion Acquisition I LLC - Applicants: ClearMotion Acquisition I LLC - Inventors: Lawrence D. Knox; Antonio Sangermano, II - Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US10369908B2 ## CPC - B60N 2/501: {actively controlled suspension, e.g. electronic control} - B60K 5/12: Arrangement of engine supports - B60K 5/1283: {Adjustable supports, e.g. the mounting or the characteristics being adjustable} - B60N 2/0244: {with logic circuits} - F16F 15/002: {characterised by the control method or circuitry (control of mechanical oscillations per se G05D19/00)} - B60N 2/0272: {using sensors or detectors for detecting the position of seat parts} - B60N 2220/10: using a database - B60W 2552/00: Input parameters relating to infrastructure - B60N: SEATS SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR VEHICLES; VEHICLE PASSENGER ACCOMMODATION NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR - B60K: ARRANGEMENT OR MOUNTING OF PROPULSION UNITS OR OF TRANSMISSIONS IN VEHICLES; ARRANGEMENT OR MOUNTING OF PLURAL DIVERSE PRIME-MOVERS IN VEHICLES; AUXILIARY DRIVES FOR VEHICLES; INSTRUMENTATION OR DASHBOARDS FOR VEHICLES; ARRANGEMENTS IN CONNECTION WITH COOLING, AIR INTAKE, GAS EXHAUST OR FUEL SUPPLY OF PROPULSION UNITS IN VEHICLES - F16F: SPRINGS; SHOCK-ABSORBERS; MEANS FOR DAMPING VIBRATION - B60W: CONJOINT CONTROL OF VEHICLE SUB-UNITS OF DIFFERENT TYPE OR DIFFERENT FUNCTION; CONTROL SYSTEMS SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR HYBRID VEHICLES; ROAD VEHICLE DRIVE CONTROL SYSTEMS FOR PURPOSES NOT RELATED TO THE CONTROL OF A PARTICULAR SUB-UNIT ## Abstract A system and method that establishes a confidence in a vehicle position determined by a vehicle position determination system and uses the established confidence to change a behavior of an active suspension system of a plant in the vehicle. ## Claims ### Claim 1 A method of operating an actuator of an active suspension system in a vehicle, the method comprising: determining an approximate location of the vehicle; calculating a level of confidence associated with the determined vehicle location; and controlling, based at least in part on the calculated level of confidence and the determined location, a force output by the actuator of the active suspension system. ### Claim 2 (depends on 1) The method of claim 1, wherein the active suspension system comprises a controller that outputs commands to the actuator, and wherein controlling the actuator of the active suspension system comprises: determining, by the controller and based at least in part on the determined location of the vehicle and the calculated level of confidence, a desired force; and applying, with the actuator, the desired force to a body of the vehicle. ### Claim 3 (depends on 2) The method of claim 2, wherein determining the desired force comprises determining, by the controller, the desired force using a feed-forward architecture. ### Claim 4 (depends on 3) The method of claim 3, wherein determining the desired force comprises determining, by the controller, the desired force using a feedback architecture. ### Claim 5 (depends on 4) The method of claim 4, wherein determining the desired force by the controller comprises: determining, using the feed-forward architecture, a first force; determining, using the feedback architecture, a second force; determining the first force by calculating a weighted sum of the first force and the second force, and determining, based on the level of confidence, a weight assigned to the first force. ### Claim 6 (depends on 5) The method of claim 5, wherein determining a weight assigned to the first force comprises determining a weight that is proportional to the level of confidence. ### Claim 7 (depends on 2) The method of claim 2, further comprising applying, with the actuator, a wheel force to a wheel of the vehicle. ### Claim 8 (depends on 2) The method of claim 2, wherein determining the approximate vehicle location comprises: determining an initial vehicle location estimate using a global positioning system (GPS), recording a sequence of sensor data from one or more sensors attached to the vehicle, and refining the initial vehicle location estimate by performing pattern matching to correlate the recorded sequence of sensor data to a known sequence contained in reference data. ### Claim 9 (depends on 8) The method of claim 8, wherein the reference data comprises a plurality of sequences consisting of n numbers, and wherein performing pattern matching comprises: (a) multiplying a sequence of the plurality of sequences by a corresponding sequence of n numbers obtained from the recorded sequence of sensor data, (b) summing the results of the n multiplications, (c) repeating steps (a)-(b) using a different sequence of the plurality of sequences and (d) identifying the specific sequence of the plurality of sequences for which the sum of the n multiplications has a peak value. ### Claim 10 A method for controlling a suspension system that suspends a vehicle body relative to a wheel of a vehicle, the method comprising: (a) determining a location of the vehicle; (b) calculating a level of confidence in the determined vehicle location; and (c) adjusting, based at least in part on the level of confidence, an operating parameter of the suspension system. ### Claim 11 (depends on 10) The method of claim 10, wherein adjusting an operating parameter of the suspension system comprises applying a force to the vehicle body by an actuator of the suspension system. ### Claim 12 (depends on 11) The method of claim 11, wherein (c) comprises: based at least in part on the level of confidence and the approximate location of the vehicle, adjusting the force that the actuator applies to the vehicle body. ### Claim 13 (depends on 12) The method of claim 12, wherein (c) comprises: based at least in part on the approximate location of the vehicle, predicting an upcoming road trajectory; based at least in part on the predicted upcoming road trajectory and the approximate location of the vehicle, determining a desired force to apply to the vehicle body with the actuator; controlling the actuator to apply the desired force to the vehicle body. ### Claim 14 A suspension system for suspending a vehicle body relative to a wheel of a vehicle, the suspension system comprising: a non-transitory memory that stores road trajectory information; a vehicle position determination system configured to determine an approximate location of the vehicle; and a controller that receives data from, the memory and from the vehicle position determination system, wherein the controller is configured to: predict, based at least in part on the approximate location of the vehicle and a portion of the road trajectory information stored in the memory, an upcoming road trajectory; calculate a level of confidence associated with the approximate location of the vehicle and/or the predicted upcoming road trajectory; determine, based at least in part on the first level of confidence and the predicted upcoming road trajectory, a desired value of an operating parameter of the suspension system. ### Claim 15 (depends on 14) The suspension system of claim 14, wherein the controller is configured to: determine, using a feed-forward algorithm, a first value of the operating parameter of the suspension system; determine, using a feedback algorithm, a second value of the operating parameter of the suspension system; determine the desired value of the operating parameter of the suspension system by calculating a weighted sum of the first value and the second value, wherein a weight assigned to the first value is based at least in part on the calculated level of confidence. ### Claim 16 (depends on 14) The suspension system of claim 14, further comprising: an actuator arranged to apply a first force to the vehicle body and a complementary force to the wheel of the vehicle. ### Claim 17 (depends on 16) The suspension system of claim 16, wherein the desired value of the operating parameter corresponds to a magnitude of the first force.