Coordination between active downforce and active suspension controls for maximized tire grip for a vehicle

A vehicle comprising:

• an active downforce system for controlling an adjustable aerodynamic surface of the vehicle;
• an active suspension system for controlling an actuator, the actuator adjusting a ride height of the vehicle;
• and
• a processing system communicatively coupled to the active downforce system and the active suspension system, the processing system comprising:
• a memory comprising computer readable instructions;
• and
• a processing device for executing the computer readable instructions, the computer readable instructions controlling the processing device to perform operations for coordination between active downforce and active suspension controls for the vehicle, the operations comprising:
• determining an optimal ride height for the vehicle based on current conditions of the vehicle, wherein determining the optimal ride height is based at least in part on a specific aerodynamic position of the adjustable aerodynamic surface of the vehicle and a longitudinal velocity of the vehicle;
• determining a suspension actuator force to implement the optimal ride height for the vehicle, wherein the suspension actuator force is determined using a model predictive control engine;
• and
• causing the active suspension system of the vehicle to control the actuator using the suspension actuator force to achieve the optimal ride height for the vehicle.

A computer program product comprising a computer readable storage medium having program instructions embodied therewith, the program instructions executable by at least one processor to cause the at least one processor to perform operations comprising:

• determining an optimal ride height for a vehicle based on current conditions of the vehicle, wherein determining the optimal ride height is based at least in part on a specific aerodynamic position of an adjustable aerodynamic surface of the vehicle and a longitudinal velocity of the vehicle;
• determining a suspension actuator force to implement the optimal ride height for the vehicle, wherein the suspension actuator force is determined using a model predictive control engine;
• and
• controlling, by an active suspension system of the vehicle, an actuator using the suspension actuator force to achieve the optimal ride height for the vehicle.