Reserves and Residuals

The reserve actuators are torques that are added about each joint to augment the actuator’s force in order to enable the simulation to run (reserves turn on when an actuator cannot produce the needed force at a given time point). To help minimize reserve torques, make an initial pass with default inputs, and then check reserves, residuals, and joint angle errors. To reduce reserves further, decrease tracking weights on coordinates with low error.

Optimal forces for reserves should be low to prevent the optimizer from "wanting" to use reserve actuators (an actuator with a large optimal force and a low excitation is "cheap" in the optimizer cost). If larger forces are needed for a successful simulation, increase the maximum control value of residuals. The residuals will then be able to generate sufficient force, but will be penalized for doing so.

Peak reserve actuator torques should typically be less than 10% of the peak joint torque.

Peak residual forces should typically be less than 10-20 N; peak residual moments, less than 75 Nm (depending on the type of motion).

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