The purpose of this thesis is to design a semi-active suspension activated by a smart ball joint by exploiting the outcomes coming from vehicle dynamics analysis. The thesis is divided in six sections. The first one describes the active and semi-active suspension state of art and the reason explains the reasons why they might be useful. Next, the mechanical design stage starts by proposing a first concept of a smart ball joint, selecting its sensors, and studying the way the loads are applied. The third section is dedicated to vehicle dynamics considerations, performed by means of Adams Car multibody modelling and simulation.