Like many cities across the country, Sioux Center, Iowa has plenty of roads that have been beat up by Old Man Winter. Combine that with several railroad crossings and you’ve got an ideal setting to test Link Manufacturing’s new ROI Cabmate Semi-Active Cab Suspension.
The computer-controlled system can make upwards of 200 corrections per second to adjust shocks and air bags to help smooth out rough roads.
“It’s nearly instantaneous,” explained Bill Ott, Link’s vice-president of engineering.
Constant input from sensors (an accelerometer monitors the motion of the cab while another sensor measures the position of the cab relative to the frame) are analyzed by Link’s proprietary algorithms. The system uses less than 10 watts of power and requires less air than Link’s prior Cabmate suspension to tame body-jarring rides.
With ROI Cabmate the ride was noticeably smoother, especially over that last set of tracks which brings an important point to bear: an active seat keeps only one occupant comfortable while ROI Cabmate smooths out the ride for everyone in the cab, including that team driver snoozing in the back.
“A lot of the test vehicles within the fleet vehicles are team drives and we’re hearing that occupants that are sleeping in the bunk get better sleep,” said Link senior engineer Ty Davis. “We’re also hearing greater wind stability. Bridge transitions are much smoother, much more stable. A lot of good feedback like that. Just rough roads in general or any transition to on- or off-highway are greatly improved.”
