The energy-optimal motion of a vibration-driven robot in a resistive medium

The rectilinear motion of a two-mass system in a resistive medium is considered. The motion of the system as a whole occurs by longitudinal periodic motion of one body (the internal mass) relative to the other body (the shell). The problem consists of finding the periodic law of motion of the internal mass that ensures velocity-periodic motion of the shell at a specified average velocity and minimum energy consumption. The initial problem reduces to a variational problem with isoperimetric conditions in which the required function is the velocity of the shell. It is established that, with optimal motion, the shell velocity is a piecewise-constant time function taking two values (a positive value and a negative value). The magnitudes of these velocities and the overall size of the intervals in which they are taken are uniquely defined, while the optimal motion itself is non-uniquely defined. The simplest optimal motion, for which the period is divided into two sections – one with a positive velocity and the other with a negative velocity of motion of the shell – is investigated in detail. It is shown that, among all the optimal motions, this simplest motion is characterized by the maximum amplitude of oscillations of the internal mass relative to the shell. © Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.     

Modelling and control of the motion of a disk rolling on a spherical dome

This work deals with the modelling and control of the motion of a disk rolling without slipping on a rigid spherical dome. It is assumed here that the motion of the disk is controlled by a tilting moment, a directional moment, and a pedalling moment. First, a mathematical model of the motion of the disk rolling on the dome is derived. Then, by using a kind of an inverse control transformation, a control strategy is proposed under which the motion of the disk is stabilized and is able asymptotically to track any smooth trajectory which is located on the spherical dome.     

The quickest transfer of a spatial dynamic object into a circular domain

The spatial problem of the time-optimal transfer of a point mass by a limited force onto a terminal set in the form of a circle without fixing the final velocity is investigated. The optimal modes of motion are constructed and investigated for arbitrary initial values of the three-dimensional position and velocity vectors using the maximum principle. The governing relations are obtained in the form of fourth-order and eighth-order algebraic equations for the minimum time of motion, which enable the dependence on the initial data to be investigated constructively. The qualitative features of the solution due to a jump discontinuity in the minimum time of motion, which lead to jumps in the control vector, are established. The problem is solved approximately by perturbation methods for the cases of motion close to singular ones. A complete investigation of the control problem for the motion of an object in the plane of a circle and close to it is presented using an original numerical-analytical approach.     

The self-propulsion of a body with moving internal masses in a viscous fluid

An investigation of the characteristics of motion of a rigid body with variable internal mass distribution in a viscous fluid is carried out on the basis of a joint numerical solution of the Navier — Stokes equations and equations of motion for a rigid body. A nonstationary three-dimensional solution to the problem is found. The motion of a sphere and a drop-shaped body in a viscous fluid in a gravitational field, which is caused by the motion of internal material points, is explored. The possibility of self-propulsion of a body in an arbitrary given direction is shown.     

Modelling and control of the motion of a disk rolling on a sloping plane

This work deals with the stabilization and control of the motion of a disk rolling on a sloping plane. It is assumed here that the motion of the disk is controlled by a tilting moment, a directional moment, and a pedalling moment. By using a kind of an inverse control transformation a control strategy is proposed under which the motion of the disk is stabilized and is able asymptotically to track any smooth trajectory which is located on the sloping plane.     

Control of the motion of a triaxial ellipsoid in a fluid using rotors

The motion of a body shaped as a triaxial ellipsoid and controlled by the rotation of three internal rotors is studied. It is proved that the motion is controllable with the exception of a few particular cases. Partial solutions whose combinations enable an unbounded motion in any arbitrary direction are constructed.     

On the dynamics of a rigid body carrying a material point

In this paper we consider a system consisting of an outer rigid body (a shell) and an inner body (a material point) which moves according to a given law along a curve rigidly attached to the body. The motion occurs in a uniform field of gravity over a fixed absolutely smooth horizontal plane. During motion the shell may collide with the plane. The coefficient of restitution for an impact is supposed to be arbitrary. We present a derivation of equations describing both the free motion of the system over the plane and the instances where collisions with the plane occur. Several special solutions to the equations of motion are found, and their stability is investigated in some cases. In the case of a dynamically symmetric body and a point moving along the symmetry axis according to an arbitrary law, a general solution to the equations of free motion of the body is found by quadratures. It generalizes the solution corresponding to the classical regular precession in Euler??s case. It is shown that the translational motion of the shell in the free flight regime exists in a general case if the material point moves relative to the body according to the law of areas.     

Embodied experience of velocity and acceleration: a narrative

Constructing a link between what a student is learning and personal experience is an important, and sometimes difficult task. I present here a narrative of my own experience as a mathematics and physics teacher trying to create an embodied sense of motion in my students by actually putting them in motion. I use the story to present the difficulty of teaching motion in the absence of the embodiment of motion as well as the tension that is created between an embodied sense of motion and the static representations used to describe it.     

Ballistic motion of a tracer particle coupled to a Bose gas

We study the motion of a heavy tracer particle weakly coupled to a dense interacting Bose gas exhibiting Bose–Einstein condensation. In the so-called mean-field limit, the dynamics of this system approaches one determined by nonlinear Hamiltonian evolution equations. We derive the effective dynamics of the tracer particle, which is described by a non-linear integro-differential equation with memory, and prove that if the initial speed of the tracer particle is below the speed of sound in the Bose gas the motion of the particle approaches an inertial motion at constant velocity at large times.     

Approximate equations of rotational motion of a rigid body carrying a movable point mass

The dynamics of a compound system, consisting of a rigid body and a point mass, which moves in a specified way along a curve, rigidly attached to the body is investigated. The system performs free motion in a uniform gravity field. Differential equations are derived which describe the rotation of the body about its centre of mass. In two special cases, which allow of the introduction of a small parameter, an approximate system of equations of motion is obtained using asymptotic methods. The accuracy with which the solutions of the approximate system approach the solutions of the exact equations of motion is indicated. In one case, it is assumed that the point mass has a mass that is small compared with the mass of the body, and performs rapid motion with respect to the rigid body. It is shown that in this case the approximate system is integrable. A number of special motions of the body, described by the approximate system, are indicated, and their stability is investigated. In the second case, no limitations are imposed on the mass of the point mass, but it is assumed that the relative motion of the point is rapid and occurs near a specified point of the body. It is shown that, in the approximate system, the motion of the rigid body about its centre of mass is Euler–Poinsot motion.     

The stability boundaries of the steady motion of a satellite with a gyroscope

Parts of the asymptotic stability boundaries of the uniform motion of the centre of mass of a system of bodies consisting of an asymmetrical satellite with a three-axis gyroscope in a circular orbit are investigated by the second Lyapunov method. Terms of the Lyapunov function that are higher than the second order are enlisted for the investigation. The sign-definiteness criterion of inhomogeneous forms is employed for the corresponding function. Parts of the stability boundaries in which the steady motion investigated is asymptotically stable are established using the Lyapunov asymptotic stability theorem. Application of the Barbashin and Krasovskii theorems reveals parts of the stability boundaries in which the steady motion is unstable. It is established that the asymptotic stability of the steady motion investigated is solved by expanding the Lyapunov function to sixth-order terms.     

Optimal control of the rectilinear motion of a two-body system in a resistive medium

The rectilinear motion of a two-body system is considered. One of the bodies (the main body) interacts with a resistive environment, while the other body (the internal body) interacts with the main body but does not interact with the environment. The force applied to the internal body leads to a reaction that acts on the main body and produces a change in its velocity, which causes a change in the resistance of the environment to the motion of the main body. Thus, by controlling the motion of the internal body, one can control the external force acting on the main body and, as a consequence, the motion of the entire system. A periodic motion of the internal body relative to the main body, which generates the motion of the main body with periodically changing velocity and the maximum displacement for the period, is constructed for a wide class of laws of resistance of the environment to the motion of the main body.The principle of motion considered is appropriate for mobile mini- and micro-robots. The body (housing) of such robots can be hemetically sealed and smooth, without protruding parts, which enables these robots to be used for the non-destructive inspection of miniature engineering structures such as thin pipe-lines, as well as in medicine. Problems of optimizing the control modes for such systems are of interest both to researchers in the field of optimal control and to specialists in applied mechanics and robotics.     

The optimum rectilinear motion of a two-mass system

The forward rectilinear motion of a system of two rigid bodies along a horizontal plane is considered. Forces of dry friction act between the bodies and the plane, and the motion is controlled by internal forces of interaction between the bodies. A periodic motion in which the system moves along a straight line is constructed. The optimum parameters of the system and a control law are found corresponding to the maximum mean velocity of motion of the system as a whole.     

Control of the motion of a helical body in a fluid using rotors

This paper is concerned with the motion of a helical body in an ideal fluid, which is controlled by rotating three internal rotors. It is proved that the motion of the body is always controllable by means of three rotors with noncoplanar axes of rotation. A condition whose satisfaction prevents controllability by means of two rotors is found. Control actions that allow the implementation of unbounded motion in an arbitrary direction are constructed. Conditions under which the motion of the body along an arbitrary smooth curve can be implemented by rotating the rotors are presented. For the optimal control problem, equations of sub-Riemannian geodesics on SE(3) are obtained.     

Optimal motion of a multilink system in a resistive medium

We consider the motion in a resistive medium of a mechanical system consisting of a main body and one or two links attached to it by means of cylindrical joints. The motion is controlled through high-frequency periodic oscillations of the links. For this system, an equation of motion is deduced and the average velocity of locomotion is estimated under certain assumptions. This velocity is positive if the angular velocity of diverting the attached links is less than the angular velocity of bringing them to the axis of the body. An optimal control problem of maximizing the average velocity is formulated and solved. An example is given.     

Dynamics of a Stewart platform

The kinematics and dynamics of a Stewart platform supported by six pneumocylinders are considered. The differential equations of motion are written, and the forces providing the fulfillment of the formulated law of motion are calculated. The inertia and weight of pneumocylinders are introduced into consideration to refine the equations of motion. The obtained equations are used to study the motion of a loaded Stewart platform, providing the stability of this motion by means of feedback control. Some numerical examples are given.     

Phenomenological model of interaction of a plate with a flow

In the present paper, a finite-dimensional phenomenological model of unsteady interaction of a rigid plate with a flow is proposed. It is assumed that the plate performs translational motion across the flow. The internal dynamics of the flow is modeled by the attached second order dynamical system. It is shown that the model allows satisfactory agreement with experimental data. With the developed model an inverse problem of dynamics is examined for the situation where the plate performing uniform translational motion at some moment begins uniform deceleration and finally stops. It is shown that for sufficiently large values of the plate acceleration for some time range the flow does not resist the motion of the plate but “accelerates” it. It is shown also that the equations of motion in the context of the proposed model can be reduced to the integro-differential form, and comparison with the known model of S. M. Belotserkovsky is performed. The structural resemblance of the motion equations for a body in flow in both models is noted. The domain of applicability of the quasi-stationary model is examined. __________ Translated from Fundamentalnaya i Prikladnaya Matematika, Vol. 11, No. 7, pp. 43–62, 2005.     

Optimal control of the motion of a multilink system in a resistive medium

The optimal control of the motion of a system consisting of a main body and one or two links joined to it by cylindrical joints in a resistive medium is investigated. The resistance force of the medium acting on the moving body is assumed to depend on their velocity. The control is accomplished through high-frequency angular oscillations of the links. The equations of motion are analysed, and the mean velocity of translational motion of the system is estimated under certain assumptions. Optimal control problems are formulated and solved, and the laws of control of the oscillations of the links for which the maximum mean velocity of motion is obtained are found as a result. The data obtained are in qualitative agreement with observations of the swimming of fish and animals. The results of this study can be used in developing mobile robots that move in a liquid.     

Comparison of a Filter- and a Model Predictive Control Based Motion Cueing Algorithm

Motion Cueing Algorithms (MCA) include control strategies to take into account the motion-based driving simulator's restrictions concerning workspace limits and dynamic boundaries. A typical 6-DoF simulator consists of a motion system which exhibits three translational and rotational degrees of freedom. Its actuators are capable of realizing accelerations, velocities and positions in a limited range. Based on these facts MCAs aim to generating realistic simulations of the driving motion (such as a driving manoeuvre) in order to immerse persons in virtual environments provided by the simulator. Filter-based, classical MCAs belong to the most applied algorithms and mainly consist of linear transfer functions. Whereas, Model Predictive Control (MPC) algorithms rest upon a reduced model of the technical system's dynamics and, optionally, a model of the human motion perception system. An optimization problem subject to the restrictions of the motion system predicts the control variables over a time horizon. This paper addresses the strengths and weaknesses of the two stated approaches with focus on Motion Cueing errors. These errors describe discrepancies between the motion that is to be simulated (e.g. a driving manoeuvre) and the motion that is eventually provided by the combination of the MCA and the motion simulator. On basis of the results, it gives an outlook why optimization based algorithms have a higher potential to improve driving simulation. (© 2017 Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)     

The dynamics of a spherical pendulum with a vibrating suspension

The motion of a spherical pendulum whose point of suspension performs high-frequency vertical harmonic oscillations of small amplitude is investigated. It is shown that two types of motion of the pendulum exist when it performs high-frequency oscillations close to conical motions, for which the pendulum makes a constant angle with the vertical and rotates around it with constant angular velocity. For the motions of the first and second types the centre of gravity of the pendulum is situated below and above the point of suspension, respectively. A bifurcation curve is obtained, which divides the plane of the parameters of the problem into two regions. In one of these only the first type of motion can exist, while in the other, in addition to the first type of motion, there are two motions of the second type. The problem of the stability of these motion of the pendulum, close to conical, is solved. It is shown that the first type of motion is stable, while of the second type of motion, only the motion with the higher position of the centre of gravity is stable.