Adaptive Weighted Multi-Objective Control of a Motor-Driven Active Seat Suspension with Input Delay

Active seat suspensions are a potential approach for reducing vertical vibration exposure in vehicle and construction-machinery seats. In most existing studies on active seat-suspension control, acceleration signals are rarely used as direct feedback because of their high noise sensitivity. However, acceleration can be measured at low cost and directly reflects ride comfort, which makes it attractive for prototype-level vibration control. This paper proposes an acceleration-feedback-based adaptive weighted control strategy for a motor-driven active seat-suspension prototype with input delay. A 2-DOF driver-seat model is employed to describe the dominant vertical dynamics. An auxiliary virtual state variable is introduced to embed a deformation-dependent weighting mechanism into the control objective, allowing the controller to coordinate ride-comfort improvement and suspension-stroke safety according to real-time suspension deformation. Based on the Linear Matrix Inequality (LMI) method, a state-feedback H-infinity controller is synthesized while considering actuation delay and input saturation. The stability of the controlled system is proved under the stated model assumptions, and the controller performance is examined through numerical simulation and laboratory prototype experiments. The acceleration transmissibility from the vibration-platform floor to the driver is evaluated experimentally in the frequency domain, and random-excitation responses are investigated through both simulation and experimentation. The results show that the proposed strategy can reduce the dominant vibration responses and satisfy the imposed stroke and actuation constraints on the laboratory test rig.