BIGDOT – Large Scale Optimization Software Library

BIGDOT is a gradient-based optimization library, similar to DOT. Users link the BIGDOT library with their program to perform optimization. BIGDOT is intended to solve very large scale optimization problems and can handle linear, non linear, constrained and unconstrained optimization problems. BIGDOT is capable of solving optimization problems with large numbers of design variables and active constraints up to the number of design variables. Problems in excess of 3M design variables have been solved by BIGDOT. In addition discrete/integer and mixed variable problems can also be solved. For discrete variable problems, there is no guarantee of obtaining the true minimum. The techniques in BIGDOT are intended to efficiently obtain a near optimum discrete solution for large scale optimization problems.

Our founder, Dr. Vanderplaats has written four optimizers. CONMIN (1972) and ADS (1984) were public domain research codes that are widely used by our competitors. His commercial codes, DOT and BIGDOT are exclusive to VR&D. DOT contains the Modified Method of Feasible Directions, invented by Dr. Vanderplaats. BIGDOT contains a new Sequential Unconstrained Minimization Technique, also invented by Dr. Vanderplaats, and able to solve extremely large constrained optimization problems.