alt Hacker NewsLegendary Bose Magic Carpet Suspension Is Finally Going Global
Comments
> The original version replaced traditional dampers with linear electric motors that used sensor data to literally move the wheels up and down and cancel out bumps. ClearMotion adapted the control software and applied to active valve dampers with a magnetic fluid.
So, in other words, ClearMotion is producing a technology that other OEM's have been doing for years. Just off the top of my head, Cadillac has their magnetic suspension (which uses a fluid that changes viscosity in the presence of a magnetic field. I guess this is the same as what TFA claims is brand new.) The Ford Raptor with their live valve by Fox has a solenoid valve that regulates the shim pack. (Funny enough, I've spent all morning doing a FEA analysis of their valve.) The latest Mercedes Gelandewagen also has solenoid valves in their dampers to switch between soft and hard damping. Citroen has been doing it since the 50's with a purely mechanical system.
The basic idea is very simple: you want a computer to regulate the damper between soft and firm, as the road dictates. The implementation of this can become very complicated and there's a number of very different implementations. If I remember right, the Bose implementation required too much electricity to be practical. Most other implementations have some type of solenoid valve to control the pressure drop of the hydraulic fluid across an orifice. Again, the theory is simple, but mass producing a system that is cheap, reliable, yet can respond in milliseconds is difficult.
> Over 20 years ago,
Why would we be interested in the technology from 1980s… oh.
Also, this is Bose of active noise cancellation - very fitting, since this looks like anc for wheels. They did anc for car seats too and sold it to the same buyer:
> As part of the deal, ClearMotion also acquired the technology for Bose Ride, a special "active" car seat for truckers that improves ride quality and reduces occupant fatigue. Bose used what it had learned from developing the active car suspension system to create Bose Ride, but it remains a niche product.
https://www.cnet.com/roadshow/news/bose-sells-its-futuristic...
BYD has had active suspension in their Yangwang U9 supercar for two years now. It's over the top.[1] It can sense and jump potholes. Drive with one wheel missing. Dance to music. Do tank turns. There's even a LIDAR watching the road surface for bumps.
That's not just adjustable damping; that's a fully powered suspension.
Mercedes does this with hydraulic rams, it's called Active Body Control (or Magic Body Control for the version that scans the road in front too).
That system uses hydraulic rams in series with the usual suspension springs and dampers, and can handle up to 5 Hz (i.e. it controls the lower frequency part of the spectrum so softer springs etc can be used, improving both ride and handling)
If this technology becomes common place, what is the future of speed bumps?
It seems as if speed bumps are a rather questionable approach to traffic calming, as larger vehicles (which should be a priority for calming) are less affected.
Very cool that these folks appear to be betting that L4 is going to be things we sleep in or something, at least that's the vision I'm getting from their prod page on this tech, also neat they seem to have reduced stopping distance by a considerable amount (although no speed listed). https://clearmotion.com/cm1
sigh. Somewhat like the flying car, and the fusion..
Similar title, 7 years ago: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=17108828
Still keep fingers crossed it would make it.
btw, one possible side effect of mass-adoption of this will be that roads will be left to deteriorate and become worse - with much more potholes and what-not - as cars will not need it. Or such will be the excuse..
I’ve always dreamed of this technology applied to buses, especially trolley buses which have plenty of capacity to supply a power-hungry electromagnetic suspension. If this could convert a bouncy and squeaky bus into a smooth light rail equivalent, wowsers
Dan Ackroyd is the spokesperson for the project too -- circa 1979.
The Lexus LS400 was a great quality car. What's the closest equivalent these days? (A 10 year old Lexus?)
More stuff to go wrong. Can someone please make an affordable simple car?
So these systems depend, in part, on memorizing road data. I.e. another privacy issue in the making.
Interesting, wonder how reliable it is and what its failure modes are like.
Do you want traffic circles? Because this is how you get traffic circles.
(I used to live in a neighborhood full of them and I liked them but very many people disagreed with me. If you make speed bumps not work then they will all be replaced with slaloms or circles.
ClearMotion founder here! Wanted to share some insights that might answer questions from other commenters and clarify what we've developed.
The ClearMotion1 system is a major leap above all tech currently on the market, with transmitted vibration reduced about 80% versus top market technologies. Here's a video comparing it on production NIO cars against luxury vehicles using semi-active (or slow active) systems others mentioned - sort of like comparing a microcontroller to a NVIDIA H100. http://bit.ly/44TDtgl
This matters especially for autonomous vehicles, where the whole point is to give people back time, and preventing motion sickness while working/reading is essential.
Our tech stack:
- Electro-hydraulic actuators that both push/pull actuate and dampen within a few milliseconds, using electric motors (not solenoid valves or special fluids). We use integrated hydraulics as a mechanical gain lever
- Predictive control software that anticipates vehicle, driver, and road dynamics
- "Infinite preview" control using crowdsourced road data with <3cm localization precision
- Software-enabled features including pre-crash posture mitigation and tire grip technology
The combination creates a "software-defined" chassis, similar to how electric power steering enabled today's driver assist features.
Our Bose acquisition was to acquire specific control software and engineering talent, but most of our IP and our production hardware/software was developed in house.
There were a few questions about durability— our system has passed 5 years of testing across millions of miles - a requirement from all of our customers like NIO and Porsche. It’s also a reason why it’s so difficult to succeed as a startup in automotive, but once you’re in, you’re locked in long-term.