The Variable Linear Transmission for Regenerative Damping in Vehicle Suspension Control

This paper introduces the concept of regenerative damping in vibration control, the storage of energy normally dissipated by a passive viscous damper. A device, the Variable Linear Transmission, is proposed to accomplish this task. Analysis of the proposed device as a damper in a typical passenger vehicle is conducted for the cases in which the device's active component operates ideally and with actuation dynamics included. Results indicate that regenerative vibration control is feasible and can provide damping nearly identical to that of a passive viscous damper while storing the damped energy.