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Me 659 Angular Velocity Euler Parameters

This document derives relationships between angular velocity components and Euler parameters (and their derivatives), which describe the orientation and rotation of a rigid body. It shows: 1) Angular velocity components in a fixed frame can be expressed as a function of Euler parameters and their derivatives using a matrix equation with no singularities. 2) Similarly, angular velocity components in the body-fixed frame can be expressed without singularities. 3) It provides an example calculation of one component to demonstrate the derivation.

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97 views3 pages

Me 659 Angular Velocity Euler Parameters

This document derives relationships between angular velocity components and Euler parameters (and their derivatives), which describe the orientation and rotation of a rigid body. It shows: 1) Angular velocity components in a fixed frame can be expressed as a function of Euler parameters and their derivatives using a matrix equation with no singularities. 2) Similarly, angular velocity components in the body-fixed frame can be expressed without singularities. 3) It provides an example calculation of one component to demonstrate the derivation.

Uploaded by

amir
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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ME 6590 Multibody Dynamics

Euler Parameters and Angular Velocity Components


Earlier we derived relationships between angular velocity components and various sets
of orientation angles and their derivatives. Here, we will derive a similar relationship
between angular velocity components and the Euler parameters and their derivatives.
Note: The presentation that follows uses a slightly different notation than that found in the text.

Angular Velocity Components in a Fixed Frame


Previously, we found that the time derivative of a transformation matrix may be written
as
[C ] [ ][C ]

(1)

Post-multiplying the above equation by [C ]T gives


[C ][C ]T [ ][C ][C ]T []

[ ] [C ][C ]T

or

(2)

Recall that the elements of [ ] are the components of RB in the fixed frame
R : ( N1, N2 , N3 ) . Using this relationship, we can derive equations relating the angular
velocity components and the Euler parameters and the Euler parameter time derivatives.
This can be done by noting that
3

1 32
i 1

C3iCiT2

2 13
i 1

C1iCiT3

3 21 C2iCiT1

(3)

i 1

Substituting expressions into the above equations for Cij and CijT in terms of the Euler
parameters, it can be shown that
4
1


2
3
2
2
3

0
1

4
1
2

2 1 1
1 2 2

4 3 3

3 4 4

(4)

Note that the last equation is simply the derivative of the parameter constraint equation,
12 22 32 42 1.

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Eq. (4) may be written in the more compact form

{} 2[ E ]{ }

(5)

where the definition of the matrix [ E ] is obvious by comparing Eqs. (4) and (5). It can be
shown that [ E ] is an orthogonal matrix. Hence, the above equation can be easily inverted.

{ } 12 [ E ]T {}

(6)

These equations are analogous to those that relate the angular velocity components to the
derivatives of a set of orientation angles. Recall, however, that in those equations,
singularities always exist. The above equation exhibits no singularities.
Angular Velocity Components in the Body-Fixed Frame
Previously, we found that the time derivative of a transformation matrix may be written
as
[C ] [C ][]

(7)

Pre-multiplying the above equation by [C ]T gives


[C ]T [C ] [C ]T [C][] []

or

[] [C ]T [C ]

(8)

Recall that the elements of [] are the components of RB in the body-fixed frame
B : (e1, e2 , e3 ) . Using this relationship, we can derive equations relating the angular velocity
components in the body-fixed reference frame and the Euler parameters and their time
derivatives. This can be done by noting that
3

1 32
i 1

C3TiCi 2

2 13
i 1

C1Ti Ci 3

3 21 C2TiCi1

(9)

i 1

Substituting expressions into the above equations for Cij and CijT in terms of the Euler
parameters, it can be shown that
4
1


2
3
2
2
3

0
1

3 2 1 1
4 1 2 2

1 4 3 3

2 3 4 4

(10)

2/3

Note that (as before) the last equation is simply the derivative of the parameter constraint
equation, 12 22 32 42 1.
Eq. (10) can be written in the more compact form

{} 2[ E]{ }

(11)

where the definition of the matrix [ E] is obvious by comparing Eqs. (10) and (11). It can
be shown that [ E] is an orthogonal matrix. Hence, Eq. (11) can be easily inverted

{ } 12 [ E]T {}

(12)

As noted above, this matrix equation exhibits no singularities.


Calculation of First Angular Velocity Component of Equation (4)
Using the first of equations (3), we can write
T
T
T
1 32 C31C12
C32C22
C33C32

2(1 3 2 4 ) 2(1 2 3 4 )
d
2( 2 3 1 4 ) 12 22 32 42
dt

d
dt

d
dt

2
1

22 32 42 2( 2 3 1 4 )

4(1 2 3 4 ) 1 3 1 3 2 4 2 4

2 12 22 32 42 2 3 2 3 1 4 1 4
2( 2 3 1 4 ) 211 2 2 2 2 3 3 2 4 4

Expanding the products in this equation and using the Euler parameter constraint
equation 12 22 32 42 1 gives the final result

1 2 41 3 2 2 3 1 4
The development of equations like this one can be quite tedious. The development of all
of Eq. (4) using the Maple symbolic manipulation software is presented in a separate set
of notes.

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