Smart Shock Absorber

Autonomous and Electrical Vehicles are two development trends for automobile industry. Plenty of sensors are demanded to monitor the traffic condition in autonomous vehicle, hence sustainable and reliable power supply for these sensors is a key issue. For the Electrical Vehicles (EVs), the range extension is a core issue, while energy harvesting approach can solve this problem properly. Therefore, the smart shock absorber is proposed with capacity of both road condition monitoring and energy harvesting. The road condition module is based on a rotation triboelectric nanogenerator, voltage signal is utilized to characterize the smooth, pothole or bump road condition by different amplitudes, and finally upload to the big data cloud to support the intelligence transportation systems (ITS). The energy harvesting module is based on an overrun clutch, which drives the generator rotation along one direction, a speed-increasing gearbox ensures that the generator works under high efficiency domain. Damping force can be adjusted by varying the value of external resistor; therefore, stiffness of the whole suspension can be controlled by external circuit to improve the vehicle handling and ride comfort performances. This smart shock absorber has the potential to popularize the Autonomous Vehicle, Internet of Vehicle as well as Electrical Vehicles.