MBDyn (MultiBody Dynamics) is free general-purpose multibody dynamics analysis software that has been developed at Politecnico di Milano. MBDyn enables us to simulate complex mechanical systems such as car suspensions, robots, and wind turbines and study their motions and forces. The movie below shows an example of a robot arm simulation with MBDyn.

MBDyn is free software and anybody can make use of it. This tutorial explains how to use MBDyn through simple examples.

For download, installation, and other official information about MBDyn, please refer to the MBDyn site: https://www.mbdyn.org/ .

MBDyn has been developed mainly driven by research. But it has now been matured well enough for industrial use. Although MBDyn does not have its own pre-processor and post-processor at present, its functionalities are solid. In addition to the basic functionalities of multibody dynamics analysis, MBDyn supports many advanced functionalities such as handling of flexible bodies as modal elements, interface with controller design software, and real-time simulation. One distinctive feature of MBDyn is that it is equipped with abundant aeroelastic and hydraulic elements due to its roots in aerospace engineering research (especially of rotorcraft and wind energy).

If you would like to start using MBDyn, this is a good place to start. This tutorial is written in the aim of providing a first clue for the beginning users of MBDyn. First, download MBDyn at MBDyn site and install it in your computer. When installation is complete, let's get started!