Active control of working machines seat suspension aimed at health protection against vibration

The paper presents the model and simulation of passive and active earth-moving machines seat suspension. The object of the simulation is the visco-elastic passive seat suspension with an air-spring, hydraulic shock-absorber and scissors guidance mechanism. Passive seat suspension amplifies the vibration amplitude at low frequency range of excitation signal (the resonance effect). In order to help the working machines operators against vibration, the active system with different control strategies is elaborated. Active system improves significantly the behavior of the seat suspension at low frequency excitation, with the most effectiveness obtained for the resonance frequency. (© 2008 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)