Adjustable suspension, semi-automatic suspension, automatic suspension, do you know the difference?

For the new technology of electronic suspension, perhaps many small partners are only half-baked, and their functions and advantages and disadvantages are only stupid.

In fact, the electronic suspension has been around for 30 years. The reason why it was not popular on motorcycles was because the early design was too large to be mounted on a small motorcycle and mainly used in four-wheeled vehicles.

With the advancement of technology in recent years, various motorcycle manufacturers have successively introduced electronic suspension systems, among which BMW and KTM are the most active, from the early ESA electronically adjustable suspension to the DDC dynamic damping control semi-active suspension, they are motorcycles. The factory is the first to introduce the production of the production car.

The difference between electronic suspension

The development of suspension systems has witnessed the development of the history of human mechanical power.

â–²There is little difference in internal mechanical structure, whether it is traditional or electronic suspension

The earliest in ancient Egypt, people have the record of using leaf springs. After the birth of the mechanical power vehicle, a damping system was provided to cope with faster speeds. In 1901, Paris's Mors was the first car in the world to be equipped with a damping system. The car won the championship in Paris-Berlin, and it was also the prototype of the modern car suspension. The electronic suspension is "electronically adjustable suspension". In addition to the addition of the magnetorheological fluid damper, the mechanical structure is roughly the same as the general suspension, including springs, damping valves, damping oil and so on. The biggest difference is the introduction of an electronic control system that replaces the traditional direct rotation of the damping valve by hand.

While the electronic suspension is part of the damping adjustment, the current technology is mainly divided into a stepping motor, a solenoid valve control, and a recently developed magnetorheological fluid damper. The ECU controls the stepping motor and the solenoid valve by means of signals to change the damping valve, thereby changing the damping of the suspension. The magnetorheological damper is more advanced. It uses a damping oil containing a magnetic metal to change the damping by electromagnetic force through a magnetorheological valve. The electronic suspension currently used on motorcycles is mainly controlled by a stepping motor and a solenoid valve for damping.

Based on the above advantages, the electronic suspension is not like the traditional suspension. It does not need to directly adjust the damping button on the shock absorber. It can be set directly through the instrument button. It is more convenient to adjust than the traditional method, and can complete the vehicle more quickly. set up.

In addition, the traditional suspension adjustment damping is mainly set in several parameters such as the number of rings, the number of turns, and the height of the adjustment knob. The setting also needs to be recorded separately, which is obviously a lot more troublesome than the visual operation of the electronic suspension.

Generally speaking, hanging in urban areas, mountain roads, highways, and tracks, the settings will be different, but the traditional suspension adjustment is more troublesome.

Most people usually find the most balanced setting. The electronic suspension can be programmed to quickly switch between different settings manually. Nowadays, models equipped with electronic suspensions are also preset with several different sets of settings, allowing the owner to switch quickly and easily.

Main (semi) active suspension

With the intervention of the electronic system, the electronic suspension has evolved into a mode that can be actively or semi-actively adjusted according to the driving ECU, in addition to simply issuing instructions from the rider.

â–² Passive electronic suspension replaces traditional thread with electronic signal line

The passive electronic suspension replaces the traditional manual adjustment with an electronic button adjustment. The suspension setting is completely passive based on the user's decision.

As early as 1970, major auto manufacturers began to develop active suspension. The active suspension was first used in the Lotus race of the 1980 Formula One race.

In addition to the electronically controlled damping and preloading, the active suspension is judged by the information received by the whole vehicle sensor, and an additional power source is added to change the suspension, further reducing the vibration of the vehicle body and reducing the noise of the tire surface to provide the most comfortable. The sense of ride is therefore also known as the most advanced suspension design.

However, the structure of the active suspension is complicated and maintenance is not easy. Therefore, the manufacturer has developed a semi-active suspension between passive and active, also known as adaptive electronic suspension.

The semi-active electronic suspension has fewer additional power sources. The ECU automatically adjusts the damping inside the suspension after calculation by the whole vehicle sensor, so that the suspension is at any time suitable for the damping setting of the current vehicle dynamics, further stabilizing the vehicle body posture.

Motorcycle semi-active suspension

At present, the highest specification electronic suspension used on motorcycles is the semi-active electronic suspension.

â–² Damping structure of semi-active suspension of BMW motorcycle

Whether it is the first to match the BMW DDC (Dynamic Damping Control), Dynamic ESA, Ducati's Sky Hook and Apulia's aDD, it is a semi-active electronic suspension.

Ducati and Apulia all use their systems on full-featured models. The main purpose is to respond to different roads, as well as long-distance travel, to provide the most comfortable riding.

By suspending the sensor with the car body, combined with various information such as brake, vehicle speed, and throttle opening, the condition of the vehicle is judged, and the damping is adjusted to further improve the stability of the vehicle.

In the field of electronic suspension systems, the BMW is based on the model, with different semi-active suspension. For example, the R1200GS uses the Dynamic ESA, which is a semi-active version of the ESA. The DDC is paired with the HP4 performance sports car.

Since 2015, the semi-main suspension of the Yamaha R1M and Ducati 1299 has increased the IMU six-axis sensor in the car, which makes the ECU more aware of the current movement of the vehicle, including steering, acceleration and deceleration, front and rear wheels. Whether it is off the ground and so on.

This information also allows the semi-active electronic suspension to provide the best suspension response for the vehicle with a more precise damping setting.