Patent ID: 8112198

Claim:
An active suspension system comprising: a force bias eliminator; an actuator configured to be operably coupled to an energy storage reservoir; a plant connected to and suspended from a vehicle by the force bias eliminator and the actuator, such that the actuator and force bias eliminator jointly suspend the plant along a substantially vertical axis; a load-unload detector that detects a loading or unloading of the plant; and a control system operably coupled to the load-unload detector, the force bias eliminator, the energy storage reservoir and the actuator, wherein the control system, in response to a loading or unloading of the plant detected by the load-unload detector: determines the amount of energy stored in the energy storage reservoir; causes the force bias eliminator to respond to counteract forces acting on the plant as a result of the loading or unloading; and responsive to the determined amount of energy, reduces the current supplied to the actuator to reduce the rate of energy discharge from the energy storage reservoir while the force bias eliminator responds to counteract the forces.