Electrical controller for force dampers

1 . A controller in electrical communication with a sensor set and an actuation assembly for a damper, comprising:

a storage device storing a damping policy and application code instructions implementing a control method based on the damping policy; and

a processor communicatively coupled to the storage device, wherein the processor executes the application code instructions to cause the controller to:

receive an electrical output from the sensor set on a damper body assembly, the damper body assembly comprising:

a casing forming therein a first mechanically-serial damping fluid mass enclosure and a second mechanically-serial damping fluid mass enclosure; and

a first piston and a second piston, each piston housed in a separate one of the first mechanically-serial damping fluid mass enclosure with a first damping fluid and the second mechanically-serial damping fluid mass enclosure with a second damping fluid, forming therethrough at least one aperture, and movable along a longitudinal direction within the first mechanically-serial damping fluid mass enclosure and the second mechanically-serial damping fluid mass enclosure in response to force on each piston;

wherein the electrical output is relative to a distance between the first piston and the second piston; and

transmit, to the actuation assembly, an electrical control signal to independently alter a contribution to a damping coefficient for the first damping fluid and the second damping fluid as a function of the electrical output, the damping policy, and the control method.

2 . The controller of claim 1 , wherein the damping policy comprises a skyhook policy for the first damping fluid and a ground hook policy for the second damping fluid.

3 . The controller of claim 1 , wherein the control method is a Lyapunov control method.

4 . The controller of claim 1 , wherein the damper body assembly comprises a single mono-tube that houses the first and the second mechanically-serial damping fluid mass enclosures that are separated by a wall extending across the single mono-tube.

5 . The controller of claim 1 , wherein the actuation assembly:

comprises a first actuation assembly valve inline via first tubing between a first compression chamber on a first side of the first piston and a first rebound chamber on a second side of the first piston a second actuation assembly valve inline via second tubing between a second compression chamber on a first side of the second piston and a second rebound chamber on a second side of the second piston; and

is operable to independently alter the contribution to the damping coefficient of the damper from the first damping fluid and from the second damping fluid as a function of the received electrical control signals to vary an aggregate aperture of each of the actuation assembly valves.

6 . The controller of claim 5 , wherein:

the actuation assembly is external to the damper body assembly; and

altering the contribution to the damping coefficient comprises controlling the flow of damping fluid between the first compression chamber on the first side of the first piston and the first rebound chamber on the second side of the first piston through a first fluid path external to the casing and controlling the flow of damping fluid between the second compression chamber on first side of the second piston and the second rebound chamber on the second side of the second piston through an second fluid path external to the casing.

7 . The controller of claim 5 , wherein:

the actuation assembly is internal to the damper body assembly; and

altering the contribution to the damping coefficient comprises controlling the flow of damping fluid between the first compression chamber on the first side of the first piston and the first rebound chamber on the second side of the first piston through the aperture in the first piston and altering the contribution to the damping coefficient comprises controlling the flow of damping fluid between the second compression chamber on the first side of the second piston and the second rebound chamber on the second side of the second piston through the aperture in the second piston.

8 . The controller of claim 1 , wherein the actuation assembly comprises a rotary stepper motor controlling a stack of aperture discs internal to the casing for the first damping fluid and a rotary stepper motor controlling a stack of aperture discs internal to the casing for the second damping fluid.

9 . A method to dampen forces, comprising:

providing a controller in electrical communication with a sensor set and an actuation assembly for a damper;

providing a damper body assembly, the damper body assembly being characterized by a longitudinal direction and cross-section direction substantially orthogonal to the longitudinal direction, and comprising:

a casing forming therein a first mechanically-serial damping fluid mass enclosure and a second mechanically-serial damping fluid mass enclosure; and

a first piston and a second piston, each piston housed in a separate one of the first mechanically-serial damping fluid mass enclosure with a first damping fluid and the second enclosure with a second damping fluid, forming therethrough at least one aperture, and movable along a longitudinal direction within the first mechanically-serial damping fluid enclosure and the second mechanically-serial damping fluid mass enclosure in response to force on each piston;

providing the actuation assembly operable, upon receiving electrical control signals, to independently alter the contribution to a damping coefficient of the damper from the first damping fluid and the second damping fluid as a function of the received electrical control signals;

receiving, by the controller and from the sensor set, a signal based on a distance between the first piston and the second piston;

communicating, by the controller, the electrical control signals to the actuation assembly based on the received signal, a damping policy, and a control method; and

independently alter, by the actuation assembly, a contribution to a damping coefficient for the first damping fluid and the second damping fluid as a function of the electrical output.

10 . The method of claim 9 , wherein the controller comprises:

a storage device storing the damping policy and application code instructions implementing the control method based on the damping policy; and

a processor communicatively coupled to the storage device.

11 . The method of claim 9 , wherein the control method is a Lyapunov control method.

12 . The method of claim 9 , wherein the damping policy comprises a skyhook policy for the first damping fluid and a ground hook policy for the second damping fluid.

13 . The method of claim 12 , wherein the control method is a Lyapunov control method.

14 . The method of claim 9 , wherein the damper body assembly comprises a single mono-tube that houses the first and the second mechanically-serial damping fluid mass enclosures that are separated by a wall extending across the single mono-tube.

15 . The method of claim 9 , wherein the actuation assembly:

comprises a first actuation assembly valve inline via first tubing between a first compression chamber on a first side of the first piston and a first rebound chamber on a second side of the first piston and a second actuation assembly valve inline via second tubing between a second compression chamber on a first side of the second piston and a second rebound chamber on a second side of the second piston; and

is operable to independently alter the contribution to the damping coefficient of the damper from the first damping fluid and from the second damping fluid as a function of the received electrical control signals to vary an aggregate aperture of each of the first and the second actuation assembly valves.

16 . The method of claim 15 , wherein:

the actuation assembly is external to the damper body assembly; and

altering the contribution to the damping coefficient comprises controlling the flow of damping fluid between the first compression chamber on the first side of the first piston and the first rebound chamber on the second side of the first piston through a first fluid path external to the casing and controlling the flow of damping fluid between the second compression chamber on first side of the second piston and the second rebound chamber on the second side of the second piston through a second fluid path external to the casing.

17 . The method of claim 15 , wherein:

the actuation assembly is internal to the damper body assembly; and

altering the contribution to the damping coefficient comprises controlling the flow of damping fluid between the first compression chamber on the first side of the first piston and the first rebound chamber on a second side of the first piston through an aperture in the first piston and wherein altering the contribution to the damping coefficient comprises controlling the flow of damping fluid between the second compression chamber on first side of the second piston and the second rebound chamber on a second side of the second piston through an aperture in the second piston.

18 . The method of claim 9 , wherein the actuation assembly comprises a rotary stepper motor controlling a stack of aperture discs internal to the casing for the first damping fluid and a rotary stepper motor controlling a stack of aperture discs internal to the casing for the second damping fluid.