Real-Time Simulation of Multibody Dynamics on Shared Memory Multiprocessors

Abstract

This paper presents a recursive variational formulation for real-time simulation of multibody mechanical systems on shared memory parallel computers. Static scheduling algorithms are employed to evenly distribute computation on shared memory multi-processors. Based on the methods developed, a general-purpose dynamic simulation program is shown to simulate multibody systems faster than real-time, enabling operator-in-the-loop simulation of ground vehicles and robots.