Dual processor automotive controller

A dual-processor controller has been developed for evaluating advanced automotive control algorithms. The controller is architectured around a general-purpose microcontroller and a digital signal processor. The main goal of the design is efficient computation of mathematically oriented algorithms with the ability to interface with sensors and actuators. The effectiveness of the system architecture was demonstrated by a real-time fast-Fourier-transform application to road characterization and by state estimation of a quarter car test rig. Also shown was the ability of such controllers to handle modern control theory requirements as applied to an optimal active suspension control.