Breakthrough in suspension design limits pitch and roll, providing greater comfort and superior vehicle stability
This piece came courtesy of my brother, who forwarded me a link to a first generation Lexus LS 400 using a suspension system that appeared in 2004, predating the Magic Body Control seen in the latest Mercedes S Class by a good 10 years.
Watch the video first and I'll sort of try to explain how this mumbo-jumbo works:
Can you believe who cracked it?
It was conceived by the boffins at Bose, purveyors of high-end audio systems. They've been tinkering away at active suspensions and whaddya know, they've pulled off something by thinking outside the box.
How does it work?
What's Bose good at - sound right? And what do loudspeakers use: a coil and magnet.
Decades of experience in manufacturing loudspeakers taught them when you run electricity from the source of the music through the coil in keeping with that piece of music, what happens is the actuator moves the speaker cone in and out to form the words and music you hear. Soon, they figured the movement of the actuator can be modulated using microphones and sensors which can be instantly adapted to road situations.
The Bose Suspension System here is the result of their efforts. It appears in the picture above as a black tower-fan looking object which is essentially the processor that interprets the bumps on the road through sound waves.
The information that is sent back to the processor provides the data on how to prepare the suspension for the road surface ahead.
Why haven't we seen it yet?
It's really inventions developed from thinking outside the box which deserve to see the light of day. That would make sense if it costs $1000 or $3000 to make. As it turns out, that's not what it costs.
The Bose Suspension System (deep breath) costs US$100,000 alone - just for the suspension, sans the car. The high cost of development prohibits it from being an optional extra even in the options list of a Rolls Royce. And that, ladies and gentlemen, explains why we haven't seen it. But it's good to know the technology and the intellectual quantum leap that took us to that technology have turned a dream into a reality - a world where all roads, no matter how badly pock-marked, are as smooth as a baby's bottom.
In its stead, Bose has given us their loudspeakers in modern cars to enjoy.
It'll do.
Cheers,
All Lexus
This piece came courtesy of my brother, who forwarded me a link to a first generation Lexus LS 400 using a suspension system that appeared in 2004, predating the Magic Body Control seen in the latest Mercedes S Class by a good 10 years.
Watch the video first and I'll sort of try to explain how this mumbo-jumbo works:
Can you believe who cracked it?
It was conceived by the boffins at Bose, purveyors of high-end audio systems. They've been tinkering away at active suspensions and whaddya know, they've pulled off something by thinking outside the box.
How does it work?
What's Bose good at - sound right? And what do loudspeakers use: a coil and magnet.
Decades of experience in manufacturing loudspeakers taught them when you run electricity from the source of the music through the coil in keeping with that piece of music, what happens is the actuator moves the speaker cone in and out to form the words and music you hear. Soon, they figured the movement of the actuator can be modulated using microphones and sensors which can be instantly adapted to road situations.
The Bose Suspension System here is the result of their efforts. It appears in the picture above as a black tower-fan looking object which is essentially the processor that interprets the bumps on the road through sound waves.
The information that is sent back to the processor provides the data on how to prepare the suspension for the road surface ahead.
Why haven't we seen it yet?
It's really inventions developed from thinking outside the box which deserve to see the light of day. That would make sense if it costs $1000 or $3000 to make. As it turns out, that's not what it costs.
The Bose Suspension System (deep breath) costs US$100,000 alone - just for the suspension, sans the car. The high cost of development prohibits it from being an optional extra even in the options list of a Rolls Royce. And that, ladies and gentlemen, explains why we haven't seen it. But it's good to know the technology and the intellectual quantum leap that took us to that technology have turned a dream into a reality - a world where all roads, no matter how badly pock-marked, are as smooth as a baby's bottom.
In its stead, Bose has given us their loudspeakers in modern cars to enjoy.
It'll do.
Cheers,
All Lexus
No comments:
Post a Comment