PRODUCT PROFILE 51
power-saving technology is therefore
very suitable for BEVs.
Regarding autonomous vehicles,
motion sickness will be a bigger
factor. How are you working to
mitigate this?
Motion sickness occurs if there is a
conflict between visually perceived
movement and the vestibular system
in the inner ear. In an autonomous
vehicle, there is greater likelihood of
this occurring as everyone becomes a
passenger and is less engaged in driving
the vehicle. There has been a great
deal of study on sea sickness, which
is a simple form of motion sickness.
In an autonomous vehicle, passengers
are subjected to a more complex form
of motion sickness. Together with
universities, we are doing testing in a
rather extreme setting and analysing
what happens with biomechanical
motion of the human body. The
researchers are fitting all the gathered
data into perception models that can
be used in vehicle motion control
functions to suppress motion sickness.
How can the connected vehicle
benefit vehicle dynamics?
Connected vehicles use 5G
communication, which is suitable for
large data exchanges. In the future,
TOP: The Monroe
CVSA2 Kinetic
system greatly
increases roll
stability
ABOVE LEFT: A
schematic of the
Monroe CVSA2
Kinetic system
ABOVE RIGHT: DRiV
is investigating
several new and
innovative
manufacturing
techniques
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November/December 2019 • VehicleDynamicsInternational.com
to ensure ergonomic safety and work
efficiency prior to the assets being
manufactured.
Are you working with any new
materials to help reduce vehicle
weight?
Weight reduction is a very important
factor in reducing C02 emissions.
However, battery electric vehicles are
inherently heavier, leading to increased
load requirements. By better predicting
the load path during various driving
and manoeuvring events, we are able
to optimise stress in the components
by locally reinforcing the material.
Therefore, having a good understanding
of material characteristics under various
load conditions is becoming key.
Are you developing components
and/or technology for autonomous
vehicles?
As part of our open innovation strategy,
we are actively involved both in projects
funded by the European Commission
for autonomous vehicles, as well as in
one-to-one projects with new players
in this field. By becoming involved at
a very early stage in the development
of autonomous vehicles, we can better
understand their unique requirements
and, therefore, develop products to
meet these future needs.
Autonomy will be an enabler for
technologies such as brake by wire,
steer by wire and, to a lesser extent,
active suspension. Active suspension
is less coupled to autonomous driving.
Rather, it is more closely aligned to the
increased demand for more comfortoriented
vehicles. Evidence of this can
be found with the 2019 launch of the
Mercedes GLE with active suspension.
In the coming years we will see more
vehicles featuring active suspension
technologies.
Our Monroe Intelligent Suspension
Kinetic product range delivers the same
controlled roll and pitch vehicle body
movement to the end-user, but in a
reactive, rather than active way. This
has the additional benefit for electric
vehicles that power consumption is less
than 5% compared to an active system.
It is clearly preferable to use the limited
energy in the battery for range, and this
the navigational maps will have more
layers, one of which could include highdefinition
road roughness mapping of
the road surface. This kind of detailed
mapping, together with weather
information, can give a very accurate
prediction of road status.
This information can be used in the
supervisory vehicle controller for the
braking system, traction control and
yaw motion control. DRiV is pioneering
the application of tyre force vectoring,
an alternative method of yaw motion
control using semi-active or active
suspension as the main actuator.
Typically, yaw motion control in vehicle
stability control is done by active
differential or braking systems. The
benefits of tyre force vectoring are
energy efficiency, as well as reduced
workload (steering wheel input) for
the driver.
What will be the next technology
to benefit ride comfort?
DRiV has introduced a family of
advanced, highly tunable add-on
valves for OEMs, which bring bestin
class comfort to passive dampers
used in a wide range of passenger
vehicle applications. The cost-effective
new Monroe RideRefine SDD (stroke
dependent damping) valve technology
works in concert with a damper’s main
valve to provide highly refined, luxurylevel
ride characteristics in a full range
of driving conditions.
Stroke-dependent damping
dramatically enhances comfort by
improving plushness and road isolation,
enabling OEMs to tune vehicles for
greater everyday comfort with minimal
impact on handling. Monroe RideRefine
SDD valves bring new levels of comfort
and tunability to conventional dampers.
Stroke-dependent damping helps
ensure the damper effectively filters
out minor road inputs encountered
on highways and other comparatively
smooth surfaces. Also, because the
new valve is added below the piston,
it is easy to integrate into an existing
damper design.
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