Efficient Adjoint-based Design Optimization with Optimal Control

Fuente: arXiv
Salvato in:
Dettagli Bibliografici
Autori principali: He, Sicheng, Kaneko, Shugo, Howell, Max, Li, Nan, Martins, Joaquim R. R. A.
Natura: Preprint
Pubblicazione: 2026
Soggetti:
Accesso online:
Tags: Aggiungi Tag
Nessun Tag, puoi essere il primo ad aggiungerne!!
_version_ 1866917277752885248
author He, Sicheng
Kaneko, Shugo
Howell, Max
Li, Nan
Martins, Joaquim R. R. A.
author_facet He, Sicheng
Kaneko, Shugo
Howell, Max
Li, Nan
Martins, Joaquim R. R. A.
contents Multidisciplinary engineering system design typically employs a sequential process, progressing from system dynamics to design variables and control. However, this process is inefficient and may lead to a suboptimal design. We propose formulating the optimal control and multidisciplinary design optimization (MDO) problems as a single problem with linear quadratic regulator (LQR) control. We use the coupled adjoint method to compute the design variable derivatives, which are critical for gradient-based design optimization. The computational cost of the derivative computation using the adjoint method is independent of the number of design variables, making it suitable for large-scale problems. We show that the coupled adjoint can be solved indirectly and more efficiently by solving three smaller adjoint equations that leverage the feedforward structure of the problem. We demonstrate this new approach on two test problems: design optimization of a classic cart-pole problem and the aerodynamic shape of a quadrotor blade. For the quadrotor blade design problem, we reduce the control cost by 10% by optimizing the blade for a specific control task with a slight penalty in steady hovering power consumption.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2602_15242
institution arXiv
publishDate 2026
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Efficient Adjoint-based Design Optimization with Optimal Control
He, Sicheng
Kaneko, Shugo
Howell, Max
Li, Nan
Martins, Joaquim R. R. A.
Optimization and Control
Multidisciplinary engineering system design typically employs a sequential process, progressing from system dynamics to design variables and control. However, this process is inefficient and may lead to a suboptimal design. We propose formulating the optimal control and multidisciplinary design optimization (MDO) problems as a single problem with linear quadratic regulator (LQR) control. We use the coupled adjoint method to compute the design variable derivatives, which are critical for gradient-based design optimization. The computational cost of the derivative computation using the adjoint method is independent of the number of design variables, making it suitable for large-scale problems. We show that the coupled adjoint can be solved indirectly and more efficiently by solving three smaller adjoint equations that leverage the feedforward structure of the problem. We demonstrate this new approach on two test problems: design optimization of a classic cart-pole problem and the aerodynamic shape of a quadrotor blade. For the quadrotor blade design problem, we reduce the control cost by 10% by optimizing the blade for a specific control task with a slight penalty in steady hovering power consumption.
title Efficient Adjoint-based Design Optimization with Optimal Control
topic Optimization and Control
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2602.15242