DistributedDesignOptimizer: A modular Python framework for Setup, Execution and Processing of Distributed Design Optimization

Abstract

Multidisciplinary Design Optimization (MDO) enables the application of optimization algorithms to complex engineered systems, ranging from aerospace and automotive to robotics and microelectronics. Such multi-component systems typically consist of coupled subsystems, each characterized by its own design variables, constraints and objectives. Without adequate coordination of these couplings, subsystems may be optimal in isolation while the overall system remains suboptimal or even infeasible. Distributed design optimization coordinates coupled subsystem optimization problems while allowing them to retain control over their local design variables. Although promising coordination methods exist, their application is hindered by the lack of a comprehensive software framework which supports intuitive problem definition, provides suitable distributed coordination algorithms, is modular and extensible, enables interactive (post-)processing, and supports the distributed computation of subsystem executions. This work derives requirements for such software, assesses existing frameworks against them, and introduces DistributedDesignOptimizer, an open-source Python framework to fill this gap.