SBIR-STTR Award

In this Phase I SBIR project, Fluid Ride will model, simulate, and virtually demonstrate their patented TRL5 Compressible Fluid Active Suspension Technology (CFAST) ability to improve soft soil mobility and mitigate road breakaway rollovers on 10-37 ton wheeled vehicles. Soft soil and road breakaway rollover are two of the largest mobility issues for military wheeled vehicles. Fluid Ride's CFAST has demonstrated authority to both overcome or "walk" out of a No-Go and mitigate road breakaway rollover; advanced control algorithms that sense and respond to these events will be developed. Our team has the experience and capability to deliver these control algorithms though advanced Modeling and Simulation and advanced control methodologies.

The objective of this proposal is to demonstrate Fluid Ride LTD's patented Compressible Fluid Active Suspension Technology CFAST ability to improve soft soil mobility and mitigate road breakaway rollovers on a 10-37 ton wheeled vehicle. The US Armed Forces see too many roll-overs and missions compromised due to vehicles stuck in a no-goCFAST has shown the potential to improve through successful October 2012 CRADA shaker test and present SBIR Phase I virtual demonstration. CFAST Pump and Strut core technologies are now production-feasible: Fluid Ride can deliver affordable, durable and robust, high-performance active suspension systems. In this Phase II project, Fluid Ride will utilize the Phase 1 models + simulation results and will refine the model to simulate the actual vehicle selected, and continue to develop controls to walk or improve soft-soil mobility, and to sense and mitigate rollovers. Fluid Ride will then build a CFAST-equipped demonstration vehicle to prove functionality in the real world. Successful Phase II results will include real-world demonstration of CFAST's ability to successfully walk the vehicle out of soft soil and mitigate rollover.