Lesson 9: Euler Parameters

Euler Theorem
• According to the Euler Theorem, there exist a unique axis that if the x-y-z frame (or the 


 frame) is rotated about it by an angle  it becomes parallel to the 

 frame (or the


x-y-z frame). This axis is denoted by u and it is called the orientational axis of rotation.

Euler Parameters


• A set of rotational coordinates known as Euler z


parameters are defined as u


e0  cos 
2

e
 e1 
 

e = e2   u sin
e  2
 3 x



where e contains the x-y-z or 

 components of e



– Vector e is along the orientational axis of rotation having a magnitude of sin
2
• The Euler parameters are denoted in any of the following forms:

e0 
 

e0   e1 
p=  =  
 e  e2 
e 
 3
• The four Euler parameters are not independent--they are related through one constraint
equation that can be expressed in any of the following forms:
e0 2 + e12 + e2 2 + e32 = 1
e0 2 + e T e = 1
pT p = 1

• This process does not tell us how to locate the orientational axis of rotation!
• The transformation matrix is expressed as:
 e0 2 + e12
12 e1e2
e0 e3 e1e3 + e0 e2 
 
A = 2  e1e2 + e0 e3 e0 2 + e2 2
12 e2 e3
e0 e1 
 
 e1e3
e0 e2 e2 e3 + e0 e1 e0 2 + e32
12 
In compact form this matrix is written as
A = (2 e0 2
1)I + 2(e e T + e0 e
)

– Note that the elements of this matrix are quadratic in terms of the Euler parameters
Inverse Problem
• Assume that the values of the nine direction cosines; i.e., all the nine elements of the
transformation matrix, are known. How do we determine the four Euler parameters?
 e0 2 + e12
12 e1e2
e0 e3 e1e3 + e0 e2   a11 a12 a13 
   
2  e1e2 + e0 e3 e0 2 + e2 2
12 e2 e3
e0 e1  =  a21 a22 a23 
 
 e1e3
e0 e2 e2 e3 + e0 e1 e0 2 + e32
12   a31 a32 a33 

– We first equate the traces of the two matrices:

trA = a11 + a22 + a33
(
= 2 (e0 2 + e12
12 ) + (e0 2 + e2 2
12 ) + (e0 2 + e32
12 ) )
2
This yields the value of e0 :
trA + 1
e0 2 = (a)
4
– The other three parameters are found by equating the diagonal terms:
 e0 2 + e12
12 e1e2
e0 e3 e1e3 + e0 e2   a11 a12 a13 
   
2  e1e2 + e0 e3 e0 + e2
2 e2 e3
e0 e1  =  a21 a22 a23 
2 2 1

 
 e1e3
e0 e2 e2 e3 + e0 e1 e0 2 + e32
12   a31 a32 a33 

– We find:
1+ 2a11
trA 1+ 2a22
trA 1+ 2a33
trA
e12 = , e2 2 = , e32 = (b)
4 4 4
– We note that these formulas give the values of the squared Euler parameters—how do
we determine the correct signs for the parameters?
• In order to determine the correct signs for the Euler parameters, we first find the value of
e0 2 from (a). Assume that e0 2
0 . We assign either a positive or a negative sign to e0 .
We then subtract the off-diagonal terms to compute the other three parameters
a
a23 a
a a
a
e1 = 32 , e2 = 13 31 , e3 = 21 12 (c)
4 e0 4 e0 4 e0
Since e0
0 , we can find the other three parameters without any difficulties.

– Note: It makes no difference what sign we give to e0 (why?)

• What if e0 = 0 ? We add the off-diagonal terms of the transformation matrix to obtain the
following equations:
a21 + a12 = 4e1e2 (d)
a13 + a31 = 4e1e3 (e)
a32 + a23 = 4e2 e3 (f)

– Compute e12 , e2 2 , and e32 from (b). At least one of these parameters must be
nonzero!
 – If e1
0 , use (d) and (e) to compute e2 and e3 . It makes no difference what sign we
give to e1 (why?)

– If e2
0 , use (d) and (f) to compute e1 and e3 ; etc.

Singularity?
• The inverse process in determining the Euler parameters shows that there is no singularity
associated with these parameters—as long as the direction cosines are known, we can find
the corresponding Euler parameters! This is a major advantage in using these parameters
• Another advantage of these parameters over the Euler angles is the transformation matrix is
simpler and more efficient to compute
• The disadvantage is that we need to make sure that the constraint on Euler parameters is
satisfied; i.e., the sum of square of the four parameters must be exactly equal to one!

Determining Euler Parameters

From Direction Cosines

• In the previous lesson we discussed the necessary formulas for determining the Euler
parameters if the direction cosines (the transformation matrix) are known
• The direction cosines can be determined if we have a set of three angles describing the
rotation (Euler angles), or if we have the coordinates of several points that are attached to
the body

From Euler Angles

• Assume that the three Euler angles (z-x-z convention) are known. What are the
corresponding Euler parameters?
• We equate the two transformation matrices
 e0 2 + e12
12 e1e2
e0 e3 e1e3 + e0 e2   c c
s c s
c s
s c c s s 
 
2  e1e2 + e0 e3 e0 2 + e2 2
12 e2 e3
e0 e1 =  s c + c c s
s s + c c c
c s

 e1e3
e0 e2 e2 e3 + e0 e1 e0 2 + e32
12
 s s s c c

– We compute the trace of both matrices to obtain e0 , then we equate the diagonal
terms to get
  +  

e0 = cos cos e1 = sin cos
2 2 2 2
 
   +
e2 = sin sin e3 = cos sin
2 2 2 2
– It is obvious that if we have the three angles we can always compute the four
parameters

Inverse Conversion
• The four Euler parameters are known, what are the corresponding Euler angles?
 – The conversion formulas are

cos  = 2(e0 2 + e32 )
1

2(e2 e3 + e0 e1 ) 2(e1e3
e0 e2 )
cos  = sin  =
sin  sin 
2(e0 e1
e2 e3 ) 2(e1e3 + e0 e2 )
cos  = sin  =
sin  sin 

– We note that the singularity problem still exists when sin
= 0

– The singularity problem is not caused by the Euler parameters—it is associated with
the Euler angles!

From Coordinates of Points

• Assume that the x-y-z coordinates of four points, O, A, B and C are known
– We compute the components of three vectors
a = r A
rO b = r B
rO c = rC
rO  C 



– The vectors are normalized to obtain three unit vectors
B
c
b
1 1 1
u(  ) = a u(
) = b u ( ) = c z
A a
a b c

– Now we have the nine direction cosines:
A =  u(  ) u(
) u( ) 

• This process can also be achieved with only three points, O, A, and B as shown
– We compute the components of two vector
a = r A
rO b = r B
rO
– The vectors are normalized to obtain two unit vectors
1 1  
u(  ) = a u(
) = b

a b

B
a b
– The third unit vector is obtained as z A
u( ) = u
(  ) u(
)

– The transformation matrix is
A =  u(  ) u(
) u( ) 
Special cases
• The Euler parameters can be found easily in he following special cases


– The x-y-z frame and the 

 frame are parallel
{ }
T z
p= 1 0 0 0
Any axis can be the orientational axis of
rotation; the angle of rotation is zero


– The x-axis is parallel to the -axis

z
T



p = cos sin 0 0
 2 2 
The x- axis (or -axis) is the orientational
axis of rotation

z
– The y-axis is parallel to the
-axis
T



p = cos 0 sin 0
 2 2 
The y- axis (or
-axis) is the orientational
axis of rotation

– The z-axis is parallel to the 
axis

T



p = cos 0 0 sin 
 2 2
The z- axis (or 
axis) is the orientational axis of rotation

Matrices and Identities with Euler Parameters

G and L Matrices
• Two 3
4 matrices are defined as

e1 e0
e3 e2  
e1 e0 e3
e2 
   
G = 
e2 e3 e0
e1  L = 
e2
e3 e0 e1 

e
e e1 e0  
e e2
e1 e0 
 3 2  3
In compact form:
G = 
e e
+ e0I  L = 
e
e
+ e0I 

• The transformation matrix A can be expressed as

A = G LT
• Since G and L matrices are linear in Euler parameters, it is obvious now why A is quadratic
in Euler parameters!
• These two matrices have useful characteristics where some identities are listed here. Refer
to your textbook for the proof of these identities
Gp = 0 G GT = I G T G =
pp T + I *
p
G p
=
G
p
= 0
G

Lp = 0 L LT = I LT L =
pp T + I * L p
=
L
p L
p
= 0
where I * is a 4
4 identity matrix
• Note that most of these identities are interchangeable between G and L
• These and many other identities can become useful in the derivation of the kinematic
constraints and the equations of motion

Constraints on Euler Parameters

• We have already seen that the four Euler parameters must satisfy the following constraint
pT p
1 = 0

• The time derivative of this constraint provides the constraint on the first time derivative of
Euler parameters
p T p
= 0

• The time derivative of the velocity constraint provides the constraint on the second time
derivative of Euler parameters


+ p
T p
= 0
pT p

Additional Matrices and Identities

• Two 4
4 matrices in terms of the elements of a 3-vector a are defined as
+  0
a T 
 0
a T 
a  a   
a a
 a
a

• These matrices can be used in deriving many identities to be used in the derivation of
constraint equations, etc.
+ + +
GTa = a p G a = aG

+ ap T  T a = a p
G

LT a = a p L a =
aL

+ ap T L T a = a p

• Other useful identities:

+

a = 2G a p

A
T a = 2L a p

A


 +
(A a) = 2G a + 2ap T (A T a) = 2L a + 2ap T
p p

• There is no need for us to memorize any of these identities. However, it will be useful to
understand what they are and how to use them. Check the textbook and learn how some of
these identities are derived. Some of these identities can be used to derive the partial
derivative of a constraint equation with respect to Euler parameters. Other identities can be
used to determine the first and second time derivatives of a constraint equation.