Modeling a vehicle suspension system as an educational laboratory exercise

Abstract

In order to teach specific mathematical and applicable concepts of modeling a vehicle suspension system to students in the 2.672 class at MIT, a design of a lab apparatus and plan of the procedure for a laboratory exercise featuring the necessary materials was completed. Specifically, the exercise had the goal of teaching providing students with an insight to vehicle suspension systems and the potential for finding an ideal system by varying system parameters. Using a scaled model of a suspension system that can be modeled as a 2nd order differential system with a variable damper, the lab allows students to study different characteristics of the system and learn to apply mathematics and control to the system. The laboratory exercise will feature a scaled suspension system of a standard vehicle with a variable damping and variable oscillatory input force. These conditions will allow students working the exercise create different scenarios and to vary the damping, allowing them to predict and model the system as a 2nd-order differential equation. Analysis indicates that the model will work for the setup and allow for students to predict the behavior of the model vehicle suspension system.