Theory of Kinematic Motion Control of a Rigid Body

Abstract

The authors present a review of the works on the theory of kinematic control of the rotational (angular) motion of a rigid body and spatial motion of a free rigid body, which is a composition of the rotational and translational (trajectory) movements of a rigid body. The theory is based on the use of the quaternion and biquaternion kinematic models of the rigid body motion. They also provide a review of the papers devoted to the problems of construction of the optimal laws of change of the angular momentum of a dynamically symmetric rigid body and rigid body with an arbitrary mass distribution, which ensures its optimal translation from an arbitrary initial angular position to the desired final angular position. These tasks occupy an intermediate position between the kinematic and dynamic problems of control of the rotational rigid body motion and play an important role in the theory of control of orientation of the spacecraft using the rotating flywheels. The theory of kinematic motion control has various topical applications in the space flight mechanics, inertial navigation, and mechanics of robotics.