SmartDO

SmartDO is a multidisciplinary design optimization software, based on the Direct Global Search technology developed and marketed by FEA-Opt Technology. SmartDO specialized in the CAE-Based optimization, such as CAE (computer-aided engineering), FEA (finite element analysis), CAD (computer-aided design), CFD (Computational fluid dynamics) and automatic control, with application on various physics phenomena. It is both GUI and scripting driven, allowed to be integrated with almost any kind of CAD/CAE and in-house codes.
SmartDO focuses on the direct global optimization solver, which does not need much parametric study and tweaking on the solver parameter. Because of this, SmartDO has been frequently customized as the push-button expert system.
History.
SmartDO was originated in 1995 by its founder (Dr. Shen-Yeh Chen) during his Ph.D. study in Civil Engineering Department of Arizona State University. During 1998 to 2004, SmartDO was continuously developed and applied on aerospace industry and CAE consulting application as an in-house code. In 2005, Dr. Chen established FEA-Opt Technology as a CAE consulting firm and software vendor. The first commercialized version 1.0 was published in 2006 by FEA-Opt Technology. In 2012, FEA-Opt Technology signed partner agreement with both ANSYS and MSC Software base on SmartDO.
Process integration.
SmartDO uses both GUI and scripting-based interface to integrate with the 3rd party software. The GUI includes general operation of SmartDO and package specific linking interface, called the SmartLink. Smartlink can link with 3rd party CAE software, such as ANSYS Workbench. The user can cross-link any parameters in ANSYS Workbench to any design parameters in SmartDO, such as design variables, objective function, and constraints, and SmartDO will usually solve the problem well with the default settings.
The scripting interface in SmartDO is based on Tcl/Tk shell. This makes SmartDO able to link with almost any kind of 3rd party software and in-house code. SmartDO comes with the SmartScripting GUI, for generating Tcl/Tk script automatically. The user can create script by answering questions in the SmartScripting GUI, and SmartScripting will generate Tcl/Tk scripts for the user. The flexible scripting interface allows SmartDO to be customized as a push-button automatic design system.
Design optimization.
SmartDO uses the Direct Global Search methodology to achieve global optimization, including both Gradient-Based Nonlinear programming and Genetic Algorithm based stochastic programming. These two approaches can also be combined or mixed to solve specific problems.
For all the solvers in SmartDO, there is no theoretical and/or coding restriction on the number of design variables and/or constraints. SmartDO can start from an infeasible design point, pushing the design into the feasible domain first, and then proceed with optimization.
Genetic Algorithm.
Because there are various types of design variables available in the Robust Genetic Algorithms, the users can perform Concurrent Sizing, Shaping and Topology Optimization with SmartDO.
Applications.
SmartDO has been widely applied on the industry design and control since 1995. The disciplines and physics phenomena includes
And the application includes