SHAPE OPTIMIZATION OF A VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL BUMP

The shape of a speed bump (sleeping policeman) is optimized with respe ct to the response characteristic of a car going over the bump. The ob jective is that the ride is as pleasant as possible when the bump is p assed below the speed limit, while being unpleasant when the driver is going too fast. The shape of the bump is controlled by amplitudes of basic functions that are orthogonal in the sense that each contributes something new to the design space. Optimization is performed with num erical sensitivities, from a planar multibody system simulation, and t he results show that it is possible to achieve great improvements in t he bump design. The optimization method is not specialized to a specif ic mechanism and can be used to treat other multibody systems for whic h a change in response characteristics is required.