The use of the adjoint method for solving typical optimization problems in multibody dynamics

The present paper illustrates the potential of the adjoint method for a wide range of optimization problems in multibody dynamics such as inverse dynamics and parameter identification. Although the equations and matrices included show a complicated structure, the additional effort when combining the standard forward solver to the adjoint backward solver is kept in limits. Therefore, the adjoint method shows an efficient way to incorporate inverse dynamics to engineering multibody applications, e.g., trajectory tracking or parameter identification in the field of robotics. The present paper studies examples for both, parameter identification and optimal control, and shows the potential of the adjoint method in solving classical optimization problems in multibody dynamics.