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Thirty-7 years after Dr. Amar Bose hit on the thought of beefing up a loudspeaker's electromagnetic driver to be an adaptive automobile suspension, Bose is selling off the technology to ClearMotion, another Boston-area tech company founded past MIT graduates. Bose got as far as developing prototype cars that were exhibited in 2004, though it did bring to market an offshoot, electromagnetically suspended seats for long-haul truck drivers.

Unmodified- and Bose-suspension Lexus LS400s on a bumpy road, 2004.

Genesis of the Electromagnetic Suspension

At a 2004 engineering rollout at Bose headquarters in Framingham, Massachusetts, Amar Bose said, "This is the offset fourth dimension a suspension arrangement is the same for a sports car and for a luxury car." He was drawn to develop alternatives to the traditional springs-and-shocks suspensions after experiences owning a 1957 Pontiac with a fledgling air suspension and a 1967 Citroën with an always-leaking hydraulic break.

Bose believed a loudspeaker commuter comprising a magnet and electromagnetic coil, which pushed the speaker cone in and out, could be seriously scaled upwards to movement not simply a paper cone but 1,000 pounds of car at each corner. Bose created a mathematical model of the suspension. Information technology called for amend and beefier electromagnetic motors, ability amplifiers, control algorithms, and microprocessor power — all of which he believed would come available over time.

Bose set up up a skunkworks projection in 1980 and lawmaking-named it Project Sound to hide the true nature from the Bose bookkeeping section. Twenty-four years later, the company felt comfortable plenty with Project Sound to showcase information technology for the media and analysts.

Bose pause in a 1994 Lexus LS400.

Day-and-Night Deviation in Ride Quality

Linear motor at each corner replaced the traditional springs, shock absorbers.

At that summer 2004 unveiling, Bose showed off a modified and unmodified 1994 Lexus LS400 and a Porsche 911. They were driven hard around corners and over bumps that striking the front and so rear axles, and some other gear up of bumps that raised the left tire simply not the correct front, then the rears.

The front-then-rear bumps were uncomfortable on the short road course in the stock Lexus and, amazingly, most unnoticeable with the Bose suspension. Project Sound was not only damping the roadway bumps but actively counteracting them.

The alternate left-right bumps with the stock interruption were so vicious in the Porsche that the test driver had to habiliment a helmet to avoid concussing his head when information technology repeatedly struck the side window.

A echo visitor to Bose knows the company ever has a tin-you-top-this moment for visitors. In this case, it was said to be a exam of the Lexus driving at speed over a railroad tie. The driver approached the railroad necktie at speed, the car hunkered downwardly (the suspension had eight inches of travel), and then the linear motors went to total expansion mode, and the automobile lifted off the basis and sailed over the railroad necktie with inches to spare. Subsequently that, the driver got out, bowed to the crowd, pointed to the car, clicked a push button, and the forepart suspension dipped downwardly, as well, and bowed as the headlamps winked.

At the end of the demo, Bose representatives explained what was needed to bring the interruption to market in a product auto by the finish of the decade: the cost would have to come down to a reasonable level for a high-end motorcar, and the weight would accept to come down to no more than fifty pounds per corner more than the existing suspension. Meaning a production car would weigh an extra 200 pounds.

Many of the world's premiere automakers met with Bose, simply no Bose-suspension cars ever came to marketplace. There was also talk of adapting the intermission for ambulances or luxury tour buses.

Bose Ride Organisation seat for long-booty truck drivers uses a similar electromagnetic suspension.

Bose Suspension Trucker Seats

As it tried to bring the air suspension to market, Bose hitting on the thought of installing the electronics and mechanicals inside the seats used by long-haul truck drivers. The previous state of the art was air suspension seats that softened the ride, but non enough for many truckers with back problems.

In the Bose Ride seat, precision sensors detect up-and-down motion. Bose proprietary algorithms summate how to suit the seat, and the electromagnetic motor in the base of operations counteracts the bumps. The seat is $3,700, less in quantity. In a survey of truckers who reported dorsum problems that affected their ability to drive the stiffly sprung tractor units, 97 pct said the Bose seat significantly reduced discomfort.

ClearMotion Takes Over the Bose Project

ClearMotion's acquisition of the Bose suspension and Bose Ride seat technology may help ClearMotion develop what it calls a digital chassis. Without going into item, ClearMotion says it will get beyond the current adaptive suspensions using air damping or magnetorheological adaptive dampers (using magnetic particles in shock absorber fluid, typically called MagneRide technology).

With the addition of the Bose portfolio, ClearMotion says it is "a step closer to achieving its mission to be the leading motion command company in mobility."

Shakeel Avadhany, ClearMotion's CEO and co-founder. said information technology will scale its own and the Bose'due south technologies beyond cocky-driving platforms, consumer SUVs and pickups, commercial truck, bus, agronomics, and off-highway vehicles. He said passengers in self-driving cars will be looking for a smooth ride so they can work on a laptop, tablet, or traditional paper notebook while en route.