Parallel Processing for Real-Time Dynamic System Simulation

A parallel processing algorithm based on the recursive dynamics formulation presented in a companion paper [1] is developed for multiprocessor implementation. Lagrange multipliers associated with cut-joint constraints for closed loop systems are eliminated, resulting in a minimal set of equations of motion. Concurrent generation of the system inertia matrix and the generalized force vector using the algorithm of Ref. 1 is shown to yield finer grain parallelism than earlier recursive algorithms. A new computational structure for dynamic analysis is proposed for high speed parallel processing. Real-time simulation of a vehicle is demonstrated on an eight processor parallel computer to illustrate efficiency and effectiveness of the algorithm, even for interactive operator-in-the-loop simulation.