KYB Conducts Automated Driving Research

KYB research and development engineers have been working on the development of an integrated shock absorber / power steering control system that supports automated driving comfortably and safely.

The integrated control system achieves advanced vehicle motion control by linking the shock absorbers and power steering. The technology which has been developed suppresses swaying (rotational motion in the turning direction).

It uses information on the driving route taken from map information, along with other information gathered during automated driving, to predict the future movement and vibration of the vehicle, then controls the power steering to achieve optimum driving without swaying. In addition, even when the vehicle is driving over uneven road surfaces (steps, bumps, small depressions, etc.), the vibration of the shock absorber is used to predict vehicle sway in advance, and the power steering is controlled to counteract the sway.

It is expected to provide a 50% reduction in the swaying that occurs when one wheel runs over a step of several centimetres, leading to a reduction in car accidents caused by swaying and resulting oversteer.

The effectiveness of this system has been confirmed by installing it in a test vehicle, driven at the state-of-the-art KYB development experimental centre in Japan, and development continues with the design and verification of its application to products.

Jordan Day, KYB Europe Marketing Manager, explains “automated driving is a huge area of research and development in the automotive industry and KYB’s world class engineers are at the forefront of developing the role that steering and suspension components can play in ensuring the next leap in driving technology is as safe as possible”.