Search

The present paper aims at introducing a mathematical model of a spherical robot expressed in the language of Lie-group theory. Since the main component of motion is rotational, the space SO (3) 3 of three-dimensional rotations plays a prominent role in its formulation. Because of friction to the ground, rotation of the external shell results in translational motion. Rolling without slipping implies a constraint on the tangential velocity of the robot at the contact point to the ground which makes it a non-holonomic dynamical system. The mathematical model is obtained upon writing a Lagrangian function that describes the mechanical system and by the Hamilton minimal-action principle modified through d'Alembert virtual work principle to account for non-conservative control actions as well as frictional reactions. The result of the modeling appears as a series of non-holonomic Euler–Poincaré equations of dynamics plus a series of auxiliary equations of reconstruction and advection type. A short discussion on the numerical simulation of such mathematical model complements the main analytic-mechanic development. • Spherical robots find applications in environments that conventional robots hardly cope with. • Their modeling is difficult due to their multi-body structure in the presence of non-holonomic constraint. • A mathematical model is developed on the basis of Lie-group theory and Hamilton–d'Alembert principle. • Numerical integration of the constrained equations is achieved by geometric integration. • Basic numerical simulations are shown and commented. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Helicopters are extraordinarily complex mechanisms. Such complexity makes it difficult to model, simulate and pilot a helicopter. The present paper proposes a mathematical model of a fantail helicopter type based on Lie-group theory. The present paper first recalls the Lagrange–d’Alembert–Pontryagin principle to describe the dynamics of a multi-part object, and subsequently applies such principle to describe the motion of a helicopter in space. A good part of the paper is devoted to the numerical simulation of the motion of a helicopter, which was obtained through a dedicated numerical method. Numerical simulation was based on a series of values for the many parameters involved in the mathematical model carefully inferred from the available technical literature.

The present paper recalls a formulation of non-conservative system dynamics through the Lagrange−d’Alembert principle expressed through a generalized Euler−Poincaré form of the system equation on a Lie group. The paper illustrates applications of the generalized Euler−Poincaré equations on the rotation groups to a gyrostat satellite and a quadcopter drone. The numerical solution of the dynamical equations on the rotation groups is tackled via a generalized forward Euler method and an explicit Runge−Kutta integration method tailored to Lie groups.

Helicopters are extraordinarily complex mechanisms. Such complexity makes it difficult to model, simulate and pilot a helicopter. The present paper proposes a mathematical model of a fantail helicopter type based on Lie-group theory. The present paper first recalls the Lagrange–d'Alembert–Pontryagin principle to describe the dynamics of a multi-part object, and subsequently applies such principle to describe the motion of a helicopter in space. A good part of the paper is devoted to the numerical simulation of the motion of a helicopter, which was obtained through a dedicated numerical method. Numerical simulation was based on a series of values for the many parameters involved in the mathematical model carefully inferred from the available technical literature. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present paper recalls a formulation of non-conservative system dynamics through the Lagrange–d'Alembert principle expressed through a generalized Euler–Poincaré form of the system equation on a Lie group. The paper illustrates applications of the generalized Euler–Poincaré equations on the rotation groups to a gyrostat satellite and a quadcopter drone. The numerical solution of the dynamical equations on the rotation groups is tackled via a generalized forward Euler method and an explicit Runge–Kutta integration method tailored to Lie groups. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]