Rough road detection

The system of claim 5 further comprising:

• said sensor data evaluator configured to:
• repeatedly determine a noise floor frequency value from said repeatedly received sensor data, said noise floor frequency value being an averaged value determined over a predefined period of time;
• obtain a pre-defined bump threshold value;
• modify said pre-defined bump threshold value with said noise floor frequency value to obtain a modified pre-defined bump threshold value;
• repeatedly obtain a bump value from said received sensor data;
• repeatedly compare said bump value with said modified pre-defined bump threshold value;
• upon a determination that said bump value is greater than or equal to said modified pre-defined bump threshold value, obtain a greater than or equal to bump threshold value set of operating values for said at least one damping characteristic of said active valve damper,
• modify said present set of operational values for said at least one damping characteristic of said active valve damper to said greater than or equal to bump threshold value set of operating values for said at least one damping characteristic of said active valve damper;
• and
• upon a determination that said bump value is less than said modified pre-defined bump threshold value, obtain a less than bump threshold value set of operating values for said at least one damping characteristic of said active valve damper,
• modify said present set of operational values for said at least one damping characteristic of said active valve damper to said less than bump threshold value set of operating values for said at least one damping characteristic of said active valve damper.

A method comprising:

• receiving sensor data from one or more sensors monitoring a vehicle;
• identifying a repeating pattern in said sensor data, said repeating pattern indicative of a terrain type being traversed by said vehicle;
• determining a value of said repeating pattern;
• obtaining a present set of operational values for at least one damping characteristic of an active valve damper coupled with said vehicle;
• modifying said present set of operational values for said at least one damping characteristic of said active valve damper based on said value of said repeating pattern to develop a modified set of operational values for said at least one damping characteristic of said active valve damper;
• and
• automatically sending an adjustment command to said active valve damper, said adjustment command comprising said modified set of operational values for said at least one damping characteristic of said active valve damper.

The method of claim 12 further comprising:

• repeatedly receiving said sensor data at a pre-defined time interval;
• repeatedly utilizing an acceleration data from said repeatedly received sensor data to repeatedly determine a derivative of acceleration (Jerk);
• repeatedly applying a variance approach to said Jerk to detect a rapid change in said acceleration data;
• repeatedly accessing a number of pre-identified Jerk signatures that have been previously associated with different types of terrain;
• repeatedly comparing said Jerk with said number of pre-identified Jerk signatures to identify a best match pre-identified Jerk signature;
• repeatedly obtaining a terrain appropriate set of operating values for said at least one damping characteristic of said active valve damper based on said terrain associated with said best match pre-identified Jerk signature;
• comparing said present set of operational values for at least one damping characteristic of said active valve damper with said terrain appropriate set of operating values for said at least one damping characteristic of said active valve damper;
• and
• modifying, as necessary, said present set of operational values for said at least one damping characteristic of said active valve damper to said terrain appropriate set of operating values for said at least one damping characteristic of said active valve damper.