OpenMDAO vs Plato

OpenMDAO is a free, open-source Python framework for systems analysis and multidisciplinary optimization, available for Linux and self-hosted use. It focuses on gradient-based optimization with analytic derivatives, including design spaces with hundreds or thousands of variables. Models combine components and groups, while drivers run optimization algorithms or design of experiments. Nonlinear and linear solvers can be positioned at different levels of the model hierarchy. Derivative tools include analytic partial derivatives, finite-difference and complex-step approximations, derivative checking, and forward or reverse total derivative calculations. MPI features support parallel subsystems and distributed variables across processes. Parallel computing can also support gradient-free optimization, mixed-integer nonlinear programming and design space exploration. Users can visualize models and optimization progress, and record or read model and solver cases. Dymos for transient modeling and optimal control, and pyCycle for turbine engine cycle analysis, are identified as related libraries. Installation is documented through PyPI or a cloned GitHub repository. The supported OpenMDAO 3.x line requires Python 3.10 or later; its API may change periodically during active development.

Plato is a Linux command-line platform for topology optimization, helping designers develop geometry that meets functional requirements. It solves topology and shape design problems with adjoint methods for gradient-based optimization. Documented objectives include increasing stiffness or heat flow and reducing stress. Plato coordinates workflows involving geometry, meshing, and physics simulation packages. It includes the open-source physics code Plato Analyze and can also be used with a growing set of internal Sandia physics codes. Research features described for the platform include structural optimization across multiple materials, uncertainty-aware structural optimization, level-set methods, and a massively parallel kernel filter. A graphical interface is in development for selected applications. The open-source version is listed at free, with a limited set of objectives and constraints. A license is required to obtain an installation package.