Quaternion methods and models of regular celestial mechanics and astrodynamics

This paper is a review, which focuses on our work, while including an analysis of many works of other researchers in the field of quaternionic regularization. The regular quaternion models of celestial mechanics and astrodynamics in the Kustaanheimo-Stiefel (KS) variables and Euler (Rodrigues-Hamilton) parameters are analyzed. These models are derived by the quaternion methods of mechanics and are based on the differential equations of the perturbed spatial two-body problem and the perturbed spatial central motion of a point particle. This paper also covers some applications of these models. Stiefel and Scheifele are known to have doubted that quaternions and quaternion matrices can be used efficiently to regularize the equations of celestial mechanics. However, the author of this paper and other researchers refuted this point of view and showed that the quaternion approach actually leads to efficient solutions for regularizing the equations of celestial mechanics and astrodynamics.This paper presents convenient geometric and kinematic interpretations of the KS transformation and the KS bilinear relation proposed by the present author. More general (compared with the KS equations) quaternion regular equations of the perturbed spatial two-body problem in the KS variables are presented. These equations are derived with the assumption that the KS bilinear relation was not satisfied. The main stages of the quaternion theory of regularizing the vector differential equation of the perturbed central motion of a point particle are presented, together with regular equations in the KS variables and Euler parameters, derived by the aforementioned theory. We also present the derivation of regular quaternion equations of the perturbed spatial two-body problem in the Levi-Civita variables and the Euler parameters, developed by the ideal rectangular Hansen coordinates and the orientation quaternion of the ideal coordinate frame.This paper also gives new results using quaternionic methods in the perturbed spatial restricted three-body problem.

Dwelling on the Connection Between SO(3) and Rotation Matrices in Rigid Multibody Dynamics – Part 2: Comparison Against Formulations Using Euler Parameters or Euler Angles

We compare three solution approaches that use the index 3 set of differential algebraic equations (DAEs) to solve the constrained multibody dynamics problem through straight discretization via an implicit time integrator. The first approach is described in a companion paper and dwells on the connection between the orientation matrix and the SO(3) group. Its salient point is that the orientation matrix A is a problem unknown, directly computed without resorting to the use of other position-level generalized coordinates such as Euler angles or Euler parameters. The second approach employs Euler angles as part of the position-level generalized coordinates, and uses them to subsequently evaluate the orientation matrix A. The third approach replaces the Euler angles with Euler parameters (quaternions). The numerical integration method of choice in this contribution is first order implicit Euler. We report a similar number of iterations for convergence for all solution implementations (called rA, rε, and rp); we also observed an approximately twofold speedup of rA over rp and rε. The tests were carried out in conjunction with three models: simple pendulum, slider crank, and four-link mechanism. These simulation results were obtained using two Python simulation engines that were developed independently as part of this formulation comparison undertaking. The codes are available in a GitHub public repository and were developed to provide two different perspectives on the formulation performance issue. The improvements in simulation speed are traced back to a simpler form of the equations of motion and more concise Jacobians that enter the numerical solution. It remains to investigate whether these speed gains carry to higher order integration formulas, where the underlying Lie-group structure of SO(3) brings additional complexity in the rA solution.

Mechanical Power Losses of Ball Bearings: Model and Experimental Validation

A tribo-dynamic model of ball bearings is proposed to predict their load-dependent (mechanical) power losses. The model combines (i) a transient, point contact mixed elastohydrodynamic lubrication (EHL) formulation to simulate the mechanics of the load carrying lubricated ball-race interfaces, and (ii) a singularity-free dynamics model, and establishes the two-way coupling between them that dictates power losses. The dynamic model employs a vectoral formulation with Euler parameters. The EHL model is capable of capturing two-dimensional contact kinematics, velocity variations across the contact as well as asperity interactions of rough contact surfaces. Resultant contact surface shear distributions are processed to predict mechanical power losses of example ball bearings operating under combined radial and axial forces. An experimental set-up is introduced for measurement of the power losses of rolling-element bearings. Sets of measurements taken by using the same example ball bearings are compared to those predicted by the model to assess its accuracy in predicting mechanical power loss of a ball bearing within wide ranges of axial and radial forces.

Time integration of rigid bodies modelled with three rotation parameters

Three rotation parameters are commonly used in multibody dynamics or in spacecraft attitude determination to represent large spatial rotations. It is well known, however, that the direct time integration of kinematic equations with three rotation parameters is not possible in singular points. In standard formulations based on three rotation parameters, singular points are avoided, for example, by applying reparametrization strategies during the time integration of the kinematic equations. As an alternative, Euler parameters are commonly used to avoid singular points. State-of-the-art approaches use Lie group methods, specifically integrators, to model large rigid body rotations. However, the former methods are based on additional information, e.g. the rotation matrix, which must be computed in each time step. Thus, the latter method is difficult to incorporate into existing codes that are based on three rotation parameters. In this contribution, a novel approach for solving rotational kinematics in terms of three rotation parameters is presented. The proposed approach is illustrated by the example of the rotation vector and the Euler angles. In the proposed approach, Lie group time integration methods are used to compute consistent updates for the rotation vector or the Euler angles in each time step and therefore singular points can be surmounted and the accuracy is higher as compared to the direct time integration of rotation parameters. The proposed update formulas can be easily integrated into existing codes that use either the rotation vector or Euler angles. The advantages of the proposed approach are demonstrated with two numerical examples.

Spherical kinematics in 3-dimensional generalized space

In this study, we obtained generalized Cayley formula, Rodrigues equation and Euler parameters of an orthogonal matrix in 3-dimensional generalized space [Formula: see text]. It is shown that unit generalized quaternion, which is defined by the generalized Euler parameters, corresponds to a rotation in [Formula: see text] space.We found that the rotation in matrix equation forms using matrix form of the generalized quaternion product. Besides, in [Formula: see text] space, we obtained the rotations determined by the unit quaternions and unit split quaternions, which are special cases of generalized quaternions for [Formula: see text] in 3-dimensional Eulidean space [Formula: see text] in 3-dimensional Lorentzian space [Formula: see text] respectively.

Explicit Time Integration of Multibody Systems Modelled With Three Rotation Parameters

Rigid bodies are an essential part of multibody systems. As there are six degrees of freedom in rigid bodies, it is natural but also precarious to use three parameters for the displacement and three parameters for the rotation parameters — since there is no singularity-free description of spatial rotations based on three rotation parameters. Standard formulations based on three rotation parameters avoid singularities, e.g. by applying reparameterization strategies during the time integration of the rotational kinematic equations. Alternatively, Euler parameters are commonly used to avoid singularities. State of the art approaches use Lie group methods, specifically integrators, to model rigid body motion without the need for the above mentioned solutions. However, the methods so far have been based on additional information, e.g., the rotation matrix, which has to been computed in each step. The latter procedure is thus difficult to be implemented in existing codes that are based on three rotation parameters. In this paper, we use the rotation vector to model large rotations. Whereby Lie group integration methods are used to compute consistent updates for the rotation vector in every time step. The resulting rotation vector update is finite, while the derivative of the rotation vector in the singularity becomes unbounded. The advantages of this method are shown in an example of a gyro. Additionally, the method is applied to a multibody system and the effects of crossing singularities are presented.