The suspense is killing us! Today we look at different types of suspension for modern transport our sensors are used in , including air spring suspension; passive suspension systems; active suspension systems. We recently reported back on our sponsorship of a student race team in Spain, and we'll be letting you know how they get on in the upcoming Formula Student Spain season. In the meantime, we take a look at the other types of suspension our sensors are used in.Modern trains are becoming increasingly fast and while the suspension systems used on trains ten years ago did a fine job then, with increased speed comes increased turbulence and undesirable motion. The active suspension systems used nowadays, especially on the HS1 and proposed HS2 trains, needs to be able to cope with very fast adjustments in response to track conditions and vehicle speed or direction. Passenger comfort and safety is essential for the continued success of high speed trains; if they are not pleasant and safe to use, then people without time pressures would not opt for that mode of transport. Air spring suspension is one active system that is popular on high speed trains, as it provides highly responsive suspension adjustments that can be controlled electronically. Non-contact sensors are vital for this system to function; pollution and general dirt from train tracks, would render a contact sensor system inoperable within seconds. The control system relies on feedback from the sensors about the position of the ride height, in order to select one of the automatic settings that have been programmed into the active suspension system. Passive suspension systems also use non-contact sensors, but for information only rather than to affect any changes to the settings.Active suspension systems in high level racing cars (such as Formula 1 vehicles), are used to allow the driver to make quick changes to the suspension in response to the track conditions and corners; achieving consistently high speeds through every corner and straight means getting the suspension exactly right for that situation, and non-contact linear sensors are used to ensure that the suspension components are in the right position as dictated by the driver. The electronic control side of the system is incredibly complex, allowing the driver to set the suspension for the next corner or two while they are still driving through the first one. Without reliable non-contact sensors in place the suspension system could fail and cause a serious accident, so reliability here is of paramount importance.Rally cars and other racing vehicles also use non-contact sensors on their suspension, but this is not usually in an active system (i.e. where adjustments can be made while the vehicle is in motion). The passive suspension systems of competitive vehicles need to output data about the position of the suspension components that the engineers can then use, to create a more effective set up that will perform well under all conditions for a certain track. The data generated by using non-contact sensors in a suspension system can be used to develop not only a better set up for the next race, but for the development of better suspension systems in general.Rotary sensors are also used in race vehicles to monitor and adjust (in high-specification systems) the steering and chassis components, as well as gearbox and throttle control. The engine of a race vehicle has so many moving components that are all reliant on one another to function properly, that reliable monitoring and adjustment of these systems is vital for good performance. Positek supply linear, rotary and even tilt non-contact sensors to the racing industry, as well as the transport industry in general, and if there is a specific type of sensor needed, that is not readily available, we would love to take on the challenge of fabricating a bespoke system. Article published on: 31/12/2016 Article last updated on: 31/12/2016