Design Optimization with HEEDS Professional

Engineers are regularly presented with a set of conflicting targets (e.g., for mass, cost, manufacturability and performance) and asked to find the best parameter values or design attributes to satisfy all design criteria. But, the standard solution approaches are no longer effective. Increasing competitive pressure is driving more ambitious design goals and shorter design cycles, while increasing design complexity is making these targets more difficult to satisfy. The expensive and time-consuming trial-and-error process is no longer a viable option.

Within HEEDS^® Professional, engineers can easily define design parameters and multidisciplinary design goals, and choose analysis tools to judge a design’s performance. Then, HEEDS performs design iterations automatically while searching for design parameter values that simultaneously meet all targets and criteria. Using advanced proprietary optimization algorithms and intelligent strategies, HEEDS Professional effectively searches even the most complicated design spaces, so you discover better designs, faster.

HEEDS' Parameter Optimization Methods
Parameter optimization methods are the mathematical search algorithms that a param­e­ter optimization agent uses to find an optimized design. HEEDS allows you to choose from a variety of algorithms, including:

• SHERPA
• Multi-objective SHERPA (MO-SHERPA)
• Genetic algorithm
• Quadratic programming
• Simulated annealing
• Response surface
• Multi-start local search

You may also define your own method through the user-defined method applica­tion pro­­gramming interface (API).

The default search al­go­rithm in HEEDS is a proprietary method called SHERPA, which is actually a com­bi­n­a­tion of strategies from several different search methods that are used simultaneously and adapt­ively. Because SHERPA performs both global and local search, it is applicable to almost any engineering design optimization problem.

Leverage the Power of HEEDS’ Exclusive Optimization Methods
HEEDS Professional’s proprietary optimization search strategies, SHERPA and MO-SHERPA, are the most efficient and robust available, shortening design time from weeks to days. And, shorter design time translates into reduced product development costs. At the same time, HEEDS Professional provides a more thorough search with the potential to yield truly innovative design alternatives that satisfy multiple, even conflicting, criteria. >>More

How HEEDS Optimization Works
HEEDS Professional works the way you do. It captures and automates your current design workflow, based on the design and analysis tools you prefer to use. Then, it automatically explores the design space to quickly identify solutions that meet all of your performance and cost goals. >>More