MBDyn's Road Map
The plans for the future development are sketched below. This is only a
tentative schedule, which may be subject to change based on different requirements
and pushed by different needs.
MBDyn 1
-
MBDyn 1.0
The first release. It marks the appearance of the first
free multibody multidisciplinary analysis software
of nearly industrial strength.
-
MBDyn 1.1
This release shows some heavy reworking of the data structure,
including changes in the input syntax, preserving backwards compatibility,
and an experimental 'soft' restart module.
A special flexible slider joint has been added to allow the modeling
of flexible aircraft landing gear.
Support for
Umfpack 4
has been added.
-
MBDyn 1.2
This release will contain some bug fixes,
improved input/output,
improved helicopter rotor inflow dynamics, support for built-in
eigenanalysis from time history identification,
support for
Umfpack 4.1,
and more.
The internal API will change to accommodate radical future improvements.
Support for RTAI Real-Time Application
Interface will be added, to allow simulations to be scheduled in real-time
for hardware-in-the-loop simulations.
A modal unsteady aerodynamics module will be added, based on state-space
fitting of aeroelastic frequency response.
This will be used in conjunction with rigid aircraft aerodynamics
that includes the modeling of the aerodynamic effects of control surfaces
for free aircraft analysis.
Release is scheduled in the last quarter of 2003.
-
MBDyn 1.3
Features:
- direct eigenanalysis (a paper available here)
- relative frame dynamics
- generic, file/socket based loose/tight interaction with external solvers
- new versatile joints, including the total joint family
- invariant deformable joints family
- improved modal joint
- refactoring of built-in 2D aerodynamics
- partial support for output on database using NetCDF
- POSIX real-time scheduling
- better diagnostics and model debugging
-
MBDyn 1.X
Possible features:
- problem solution sequencing
- "hard" restart
- built-in nonlinear stability analysis
MBDyn 2
-
MBDyn 2.0
Not thinking so far yet :)
This is kinda wish-list: these issues do not fit in any schedule, but their
implementation is expected to take place some time because they would concur
in making MBDyn an industrial strength product.
- hard restart capabilities
Contributing
Need a special feature? You may contribute to the research project by coding
it yourself and sharing it with the MBDyn community,
or by establishing a research grant with the
"Dipartimento di Ingegneria Aerospaziale"
of the University
"Politecnico di Milano".
Read this FAQ
for guidelines to software/documentation contributions.
For any question, comment, suggestion, feel free to contact
the developers' team.
Maintained by mbdyn@aero.polimi.it