Inverse simulation provides an important alternative
to conventional simulation and to more formal
mathematical techniques of model inversion. The
application of inverse simulation methods to a nonlinear
dynamic model of an unmanned underwater vehicle with
actuator limits is found to give rise to a number of
challenging problems. It is shown that this particular
problem requires, in common with other applications that
include hard nonlinearities in the model or discontinuities
in the required trajectory, can best be approached using a
search-based optimization algorithm for inverse
simulation in place of the more conventional Newton-
Raphson approach. Results show that meaningful inverse
simulation results can be obtained but that multi-solution
responses exist. Although the inverse solutions are not
unique they are shown to generate the required
trajectories when tested using conventional forward
simulation methods
