Hamilton's Equations with Euler Parameters for Rigid Body Dynamics Modeling

Abstract

A combination of Euler parameter kinematics and Hamiltonian mechanics provides a rigid body dynamics model well suited for use in strongly nonlinear problems involving arbitrarily large rotations. The model is unconstrained, free of singularities, includes a general potential energy function and a minimum set of momentum variables, and takes an explicit state space form convenient for numerical implementation. The general formulation may be specialized to address particular applications, as illustrated in several three dimensional example problems.