Yeah, BOSE. The audio people. Check this shiznit out. I've never seen a car so flat in my life. The ride height is a little off, but it is in a luxury car. I'd like to see how this thing fairs in a sports application. Lovin how it takes that speed bump on.
http://motortrend.com/features/consumer/112_0501_bosesuspension/
video (http://motortrend.com/av/112_0501_bosesuspension_vid1/index.html)
video 2 (http://motortrend.com/av/112_0501_bosesuspension_vid2/index.html)
For the grand finale, Dr. Bose staged what he called a braking-precision demonstration: "Watch this 2x6 plank we've placed on edge across the roadway and see how close we can stop in front of it," he instructed. The Bose car roared toward the plank at 35 mph, but the driver never lifted. Instead, as the car approached, it hunkered down, and then leapt over the plank, clearing it like a steeplechase stallion. This was a parlor trick, with no practical application, but it served to illustrate the amount of force these shock units can exert. By this point we had plenty of tough questions for the engineers.
:wtf:
WTF? Um, as cool as that is i'm not truly gonna believe that till I see it with my own eyes. :disappoin
That was just a cool thing I snipped from the article. The rest is just awesome for what it means for the future of motoring. I bet you'll like that someone is fibuttstuffly getting around to tackling this idea.
Could this tech be applied elsewhere? Absolutely. We asked whether the same concept could be used to provide infinitely variable valve timing and lift without a camshaft, and were stonewalled, so that's almost certainly under development:ies:
Yeah I read the entire article, but I'm still a non-believer for now.
You don't think the suspension works or you don't think it jumped over the board? There's video of the suspension in action.
The board. I can believe the suspension works no question there, I just don't think that the car can go all knight rider and jump something. I know that hydraulics can accomplish some crazy stuff in low riders and all, but straight up clearing a board in one fell swoop... :screwy: .
Well, if bulky hydraulic systems can jump 4' in the air, and gyrometres on a Segway can process faster than the human brain can balance, then take action, I don't see why a system couldn't pull that off. Even if it's an isolated trick, it's certainly not beyond belief. I would like to see it, however.
I saw that a few years back. At the time whoever was doing it (Jaguar?) referred to it as "active suspension". Instead of just leaning to the side against a spring and swaybar in a sharp turn, the hydraulic shocks / springs / whatchamadoodles were instantly pumped up to keep the car level.
But it's nothing even remotely the same. And those systems can't come even close to the performance this BOSE system is putting out. Active suspension has been around for ages, yes. My T-bird was the first domestic to have it. And it's been advancing over the years. GM's new system uses a shock oil with some sort of metal mixed in, and when an electromagnet is engaged, the oil becomes less viscous, so the shock gets harder. The Jag system works as a reaction to the oposite corner. As the front left lifts, the system pumps oil into the rear right.
And neither system can work at the speeds of this system, or even uses the same mechanics. It's a conventional shock design with what I asume to be a megnetic piston, being extended and retracted by an electromagnet on top of the shock. Each corner's travel is decided on acording to the road surface, not the other wheels.
There was a nice article on this in either Popular Science or Popular Mechanics a few months ago. Pretty in depth information.