ACTIVE AERODYNAMIC VEHICLE SURFACE WITH FORCE SENSOR

• Main Authors: MITCHELL, John Robert Scott, CARON, Stephen James
• Format: Patent
• Language: English; French; German
• Published: 07.09.2022
• Subjects: LAND VEHICLES FOR TRAVELLING OTHERWISE THAN ON RAILS; MOTOR VEHICLES; PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRAILERS; TRANSPORTING; VEHICLES IN GENERAL; VEHICLES, VEHICLE FITTINGS, OR VEHICLE PARTS, NOT OTHERWISEPROVIDED FOR

An active aerodynamic system for a vehicle includes a movable exterior component disposed over a force sensor that is responsive to an aerodynamic force applied to the exterior surface, and a plurality of two or more linear actuators configured to move the movable exterior component responsive to the force applied to the exterior surface. A controller is configured to detect the aerodynamic force applied to the movable exterior component and to command the linear actuators to move the movable exterior component responsive to the aerodynamic force applied thereto. The controller may take into account other factors, such as vehicle speed, in determining a setting for the position of the movable exterior component and/or for determining a desired amount of aerodynamic force that the movable exterior component should have.