• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to secondary sidebar
  • Skip to footer
  • Home
  • Subscribe
  • Your Membership
    • Edit Your Profile
  • Services
    • Advertising
    • Case studies
    • Design
    • Email marketing
    • Lead generation
    • Magazine
    • Press releases
    • Publishing
    • Sponsored posts
    • Webcasting
    • Webinars
    • White papers
    • Writing
  • Shop
    • My Account
    • Cart
  • About
    • Contact
    • Privacy
    • Terms of use
  • Events

Robotics & Automation News

Market trends and business perspectives

  • News
  • Features
  • Video
  • Webinars
  • White papers
  • Press releases
  • Featured companies
    • BlueBotics
    • SICK Sensor Intelligence
    • Vicor Power

ZF launches ‘smooth driving system’ for automated cars

September 3, 2018 by Anna

ZF’s new fully active chassis system, sMotion, can reduce unwanted car body movements caused by potholes, bumps or bends, claims the company.

An intelligent actuator actively controls individual wheels, capable of adapting suspension movement for each travelling situation and road condition.

sMotion also offers vehicle manufacturers modular scalability as well as component dimensions and interfaces, making it easy to tailor and integrate the system into vehicle designs.

“When it comes to the development of highly automated and autonomous driving, the chassis plays a key role,” says Dr Holger Klein, head of the Car Chassis Technology Division at ZF.

“By the time the autopilot takes over the wheel, all passengers want to be completely relaxed and unaware of the vehicle’s movement, regardless of what is happening on the road. Our sMotion fully active chassis system can help fulfil this desire.”

As every passenger knows, if your attention is not on the road, you are much more aware of car body movements – causing motion sickness in some people. Eliminating this movement represents an enormous challenge to the ideas of mobile offices or lounges.

After enhancements to safety, these are considered to be key drivers for autonomous driving. With ZF ‘s intelligent sMotion shock absorbers, it is possible to eliminate nearly all annoying motion and vibration from the roadway surface, says the company.

“Passengers have the sensation of floating over bumps and hollows,” says Dr Klein. ZF’s innovation not only eliminates shocks caused by large potholes or unevenness but is equally effective against the pitching forward or back during deceleration and acceleration or the rolling and tilting when cornering or changing lanes.

The system features a very compact, external electric-motor pump unit with integrated electronics, which works as a bi-directional actuator on each wheel.

This actuator can actively raise and lower the piston rod on each wheel individually – a function that the company claims is unique in today’s market.

When cornering, for example, the two inner wheels can be retracted and the outer ones extended enabling the car to remain virtually horizontal. The same applies to long stretches of road bumps – which have different characteristics on the left and right or occur only on one side.

Networked with environmental sensors such as cameras, the system can even detect road conditions in advance, such as potholes, and prepare the actuators (predictive control).

When travelling over the detected road depression, this innovative technology actively keeps the affected wheel at the height of the road surface instead of allowing it to drop, as would be the case with a conventional shock absorber.

sMotion also features dynamic ground clearance for each specific axle or side as well as for the entire undercarriage. It also showcases a second unique technology: a separate hydraulic control path.

This feature compensates for higher-frequency bumps caused by minor unevenness in the road surface, such as manhole covers, transverse joints, rough asphalt or gravel.

The system builds on the company’s Continuous Damping Control (CDC) technology with independent compression and rebound staging. This technology is designed to actively and continuously vary the characteristic compromise between hard (stability-oriented and dynamic) and soft (comfort-oriented) ride and handling.

Vertical dynamic data can be recorded either directly within the actuator units or via sensors in the vehicle. This information comes together in a central control unit that controls the actuators.

The integrated electronics of the actuator, serve to activate the electric motor, pump and CDC to produce the least amount of body movement possible.

Transferred to the cloud, the shock absorber data can be used to inform vehicles following behind, or enable infrastructure warnings about dangerous road surface damage.

In addition, sMotion is designed for networking via ZF’s cubiX system, an integrating, modular and scalable control algorithm that coordinates all active and semi-active actuators in the car.

This means it can operate in conjunction with ZF’s electric power steering, integrated brake control (IBC), rear axle steering (AKC) and the electric axle drive system (eVD).

Print Friendly, PDF & Email

Share this:

  • Print
  • Facebook
  • LinkedIn
  • Reddit
  • Twitter
  • Tumblr
  • Pinterest
  • Skype
  • WhatsApp
  • Telegram
  • Pocket

You might also like…

Filed Under: News, Transportation Tagged With: smotion, zf

Join the Robotics & Automation News community

Primary Sidebar

Latest articles

  • How robots and RPA will change the business of the future
  • The Pros and Cons of Selling vs Trading in Your Vehicle
  • How to Ensure Your Drivers Stay Safe on the Road
  • Reasons Why You Need to Buy a Rotary Fill and Seal Coffee Packaging Machine
  • Fulfyld selects inVia Robotics to automate warehouses
  • DB Schenker to operate zero-emission autonomous ship for Ekornes
  • Southie Autonomy secures $2.5 million seed funding and $5 million in robot lease financing
  • Daimler Truck makes strategic investment in Apex.AI
  • Berkshire Grey launches new mobile robotic platform
  • Clearpath Robotics launches latest version of TurtleBot

Most Read

  • Top 20 electric vehicle charging station companies
    Top 20 electric vehicle charging station companies
  • Difference Between Three-Phase and Single-Phase Power
    Difference Between Three-Phase and Single-Phase Power
  • Track your lost Android
    Track your lost Android
  • Top 20 programmable logic controller manufacturers
    Top 20 programmable logic controller manufacturers
  • Top 25 vertical farming companies
    Top 25 vertical farming companies
  • Wood that’s twice as expensive as gold? Really?
    Wood that’s twice as expensive as gold? Really?
  • The Best Mechanical Engineering Design Software in 2022
    The Best Mechanical Engineering Design Software in 2022
  • Top 10 graphics processing unit manufacturers: Nvidia clearly in the lead
    Top 10 graphics processing unit manufacturers: Nvidia clearly in the lead
  • Industrial robot costs to drop by half in the next three years
    Industrial robot costs to drop by half in the next three years
  • Scientists have found more water in space than they ever knew possible
    Scientists have found more water in space than they ever knew possible

Overused words

abb ai applications automated automation automotive autonomous business china companies company control customers data design development digital electric global industrial industry logistics machine manufacturing market mobile platform process production robot robotic robotics robots safety software solution solutions system systems technologies technology time vehicle vehicles warehouse

Secondary Sidebar

Latest news

  • How robots and RPA will change the business of the future
  • The Pros and Cons of Selling vs Trading in Your Vehicle
  • How to Ensure Your Drivers Stay Safe on the Road
  • Reasons Why You Need to Buy a Rotary Fill and Seal Coffee Packaging Machine
  • Fulfyld selects inVia Robotics to automate warehouses
  • DB Schenker to operate zero-emission autonomous ship for Ekornes
  • Southie Autonomy secures $2.5 million seed funding and $5 million in robot lease financing
  • Daimler Truck makes strategic investment in Apex.AI
  • Berkshire Grey launches new mobile robotic platform
  • Clearpath Robotics launches latest version of TurtleBot

Footer

We are…

Robotics and Automation News was established in May, 2015, and is now one of the most widely-read websites in its category.

Please consider supporting us by becoming a paying subscriber, or through advertising and sponsorships, or by purchasing products and services through our shop – or a combination of all of the above.

Thank you.

Independent

Archivists

September 2018
M T W T F S S
 12
3456789
10111213141516
17181920212223
24252627282930
« Aug   Oct »

Complex

Old-skool

This website and its associated magazine, and weekly newsletter, are all produced by a small team of experienced journalists and media professionals.

If you have any suggestions or comments, feel free to contact us at any of the email addresses on our contact page.

We’d be happy to hear from you, and will always reply as soon as possible.

Future-facing

Free, fair and legal

We support the principles of net neutrality and equal opportunities.

Member of The Internet Defense League

Copyright © 2022 · News Pro on Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in

We use cookies on our website to give you the most relevant experience by remembering your preferences and repeat visits. By clicking “Accept”, you consent to the use of ALL the cookies.
Do not sell my personal information.
Cookie SettingsAccept
Manage consent

Privacy Overview

This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Out of these, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. But opting out of some of these cookies may affect your browsing experience.
Necessary
Always Enabled
Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. These cookies ensure basic functionalities and security features of the website, anonymously.
CookieDurationDescription
cookielawinfo-checkbox-analytics11 monthsThis cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Analytics".
cookielawinfo-checkbox-functional11 monthsThe cookie is set by GDPR cookie consent to record the user consent for the cookies in the category "Functional".
cookielawinfo-checkbox-necessary11 monthsThis cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookies is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Necessary".
cookielawinfo-checkbox-others11 monthsThis cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Other.
cookielawinfo-checkbox-performance11 monthsThis cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Performance".
viewed_cookie_policy11 monthsThe cookie is set by the GDPR Cookie Consent plugin and is used to store whether or not user has consented to the use of cookies. It does not store any personal data.
Functional
Functional cookies help to perform certain functionalities like sharing the content of the website on social media platforms, collect feedbacks, and other third-party features.
Performance
Performance cookies are used to understand and analyze the key performance indexes of the website which helps in delivering a better user experience for the visitors.
Analytics
Analytical cookies are used to understand how visitors interact with the website. These cookies help provide information on metrics the number of visitors, bounce rate, traffic source, etc.
Advertisement
Advertisement cookies are used to provide visitors with relevant ads and marketing campaigns. These cookies track visitors across websites and collect information to provide customized ads.
Others
Other uncategorized cookies are those that are being analyzed and have not been classified into a category as yet.
SAVE & ACCEPT