Research and Analysis of Suspension Dynamics of an Autonomous Bidirectional Road Vehicle

Abstract: The bidirectionality of road vehicles is a novel research area, which is directly connected with autonomy, efficiency, flexibility and sustainability of transportation. The research in this area is mostly performed with stringent restrictions in corporate secrecy. This fact makes the area publicly unexplored, moreover highly future oriented. Since so little information is publicly available about bidirectionality in road vehicles, the Master thesis project was proposed by Scania CV AB to the students of The Royal Institute of Technology (KTH). This thesis topic will focus on the suspension systems investigation as well as touch upon drivetrain systems. The main objective for this project was to find the relative importance of the different suspension angles for a bidirectional vehicle, additionally to study the settings of the suspension angles for such vehicle. The study of suitable suspension systems and drivetrains was performed with tailored requirements from the corporate side of the project.  The investigation was performed as a complementary study of the possible technical solutions for a bidirectional vehicle. This included a study of suitable suspension and drivetrain systems, analytical 2-Dimensional analysis of the selected suspensions with a further investigation of one of the systems in multi-body simulations software Adams Car from MSC software. With a later, more detailed, analysis of bidirectionality implications based on the built simulation model. Ending the project was the study of relative importance of suspension angles in bidirectional vehicle with subsequent discovery of the best performing angle setups.  This thesis project provides a comprehensive introduction to the topic of bidirectionality of road going vehicles with an outlook for further investigation of the discovered suspension setups and their optimisation in urban delivery vehicle environment.