Vehicle Dynamics CH 2 & 3

Chapter 2
Kinematics Fundamentals
2.1 Introduction
This chapter discusses the kinematics of motion, that is, looking at the nature of the motion without
examining the forces that cause the motion. We will focus on the two- and three-dimensional kine-
matics of particles, as well as planar kinematics of rigid bodies. Three-dimensional kinematics of rigid
bodies will be discussed in Chapter 9.
We begin this chapter by looking at coordinate systems and the kinematics of particles. The
motion of particles is purely translational. Then, rotating reference frames, angular velocity and
angular acceleration are discussed. Relative velocity and acceleration equations and motion observed
from a rotating coordinate system, are developed. Instant centers are introduced, as they are crucial
to the analysis of vehicles and mechanisms.
Kinematic analysis serves two purposes: First and foremost, it is a precursor to kinetic analysis,
a topic that will be discussed in the next chapter. We cannot analyze the kinetics of a system without
rst studying its kinematics. In addition, kinematic analysis by itself is a valuable tool and is widely
used in the design of mechanisms and vehicle suspensions, as well as in motion planning.
Chapter 3 discusses applications of kinematics to rolling, ground vehicles, and mechanisms.
2.2 Position, Velocity and Acceleration
When studying the kinematics of a particle, that is, the translational motion of a point, we need
to describe its position, velocity and acceleration. The description must be made with respect to
a reference point or origin using a coordinate system. A coordinate system or coordinate frame is
characterized by a set of coordinate axes, the positive directions of these axes and unit vectors along
these axes. Over the years, several types of coordinate systems have been developed. We select
the coordinate system of frame that will make the analysis easier and more meaningful. Selecting a
39
40 CHAPTER 2. KINEMATICS FUNDAMENTALS
coordinate frame is, in essence, selecting the set of motion variables.
Figure 2.1: A particle and its path.
Figure 2.1 depicts a particle that is moving and its position at time t. The position is measured
from a reference point that is xed and the position vector is denoted by r (t). Consider next the
position of the same particle at time a time increment t later, at time t + t. The position vector
at t + t is r (t + t). The velocity v (t) and acceleration a(t) of the particle are dened as
v (t) =
dr
dt
= lim
t0
r
t
= lim
t0
r (t + t) r (t)
t
a(t) =
dv
dt
= lim
t0
v (t + t) v (t)
t
(2.2.1)
The rate of change of acceleration is of interest in several applications. Examples include
vehicle dynamics and human motion analysis. The commonly used terms for the rate of change of
acceleration are shock or jerk. For example, the occupants of a vehicle get shaken and thus experience
discomfort if the acceleration prole undergoes a sudden change, such as when accelerating or braking
rapidly and when taking sharp turns. A vehicle and its components wear out sooner when they are
repeatedly subjected to sudden acceleration and sudden changes in acceleration.
2.3 Reference Frames: Single Rotation in a Plane
Coordinate systems are used in kinematics to observe motion. We decide on which coordinate system
to use by considering the nature of the motion. This section develops relationships between dierent
coordinate systems and transformations from one coordinate system to another. Only right-handed
coordinate systems are considered here. When we point our right hand towards the positive direction
of one of the axes (say x, with unit vector i) and rotate our ngers towards the positive direction of
the second axis (say y, with unit vector j), the thumb points in the positive direction of the third axis
z, with unit vector k = i j.
Consider plane motion and a planar coordinate system XY , as shown in Fig. 2.2. The unit
vectors along the X and Y directions are I and J, respectively. Also shown in the same gure is a
2.3. REFERENCE FRAMES: SINGLE ROTATION IN A PLANE 41
Figure 2.2: The XY and xy coordinate systems.
coordinate system xy (with unit vectors i and j) that is obtained by rotating the XY axes by an angle
in the counterclockwise direction. The rotation is about the Z axis (not shown here) perpendicular
to the plane. Without loss of generality, we can use the same reference point for both coordinate
systems. The relationship between the unit vectors of the two coordinate systems is
i = cos I + sinJ j = sinI + cos J
I = cos i sinj J = sini + cos j (2.3.1)
and, the unit vector perpendicular to the plane of motion is common to both coordinate systems, so
that k = K. The above relationships can be expressed in matrix form as
_
i
j
_
=
_
cos sin
sin cos
_ _
I
J
_ _
I
J
_
=
_
cos sin
sin cos
_ _
i
j
_
(2.3.2)
Dene the rotation matrix [R] as
[R] =
_
cos sin
sin cos
_
(2.3.3)
The matrix [R] is unitary; its determinant is equal to 1 and its inverse is equal to its transpose,
[R]
1
= [R]
T
. The two relationships in Eq. (2.3.2) are inverse transformations.
Next, consider a point P on the plane (Fig. 2.3) and express the coordinates of point P as
(X
P
, Y
P
) in the XY coordinates and (x
P
, y
P
) in the xy frame, as shown in Fig. 2.3. The vector r
P
,
which denotes the position of point P, can then be written in terms of the two coordinate systems as
r
P
= X
P
I +Y
P
J = x
P
i +y
P
j (2.3.4)
It is of interest to explore the relationship between the components of the two descriptions of
the position vector r
P
. To this end, introduction of Eq. (2.3.2) to the above equation results in
r
P
= X
P
I +Y
P
J = X
P
(cos i sinj) +Y
P
(sini + cos j)
Figure 2.3: Representation of vector r
P
in XY and xy coordinates.
= (X
P
cos +Y
P
sin) i + (Y
P
cos X
P
sin) j = x
P
i +y
P
j (2.3.5)
from which we conclude that
x
P
= X
P
cos +Y
P
sin y
P
= Y
P
cos X
P
sin (2.3.6)
At this stage, we introduce the column vector representations of the unit vectors and of the
location of point P in the two reference frames:
{
xyz
r
P
} =
_
x
P
y
P
_
_
XY Z
r
P
_
=
_
X
P
Y
P
_
(2.3.7)
and express the transformation between the two column vectors as
_
x
P
y
P
_
= [R]
_
X
P
Y
P
_
or {
xyz
r
P
} = [R]
_
XY Z
r
P
_
(2.3.8)
The inverse relationship between the two vectors is
_
XY Z
r
P
_
= [R]
1
{
xyz
r
P
} or
_
XY Z
r
P
_
= [R]
T
{
xyz
r
P
} (2.3.9)
The above relationships can be generalized to three dimensions by redening the column vector
representations and the rotation matrix as
{
xyz
r
P
} =
_
_
x
P
y
P
z
P
_
_
_
XY Z
r
P
_
=
_
_
X
P
Y
P
Z
P
_
_
[R] =
_
_
cos sin 0
sin cos 0
0 0 1
_
_
(2.3.10)
We see that the same relationship that governs the position vectors is also valid for the unit
vectors. Indeed, expressing the unit vectors in column vector format [i j k]
T
and [I J K]
T
we can
write
_
_
i
j
k
_
_
= [R]
_
_
I
J
K
_
_
_
_
I
J
K
_
_
= [R]
T
_
_
i
j
k
_
_
(2.3.11)
2.4. COLUMN VECTOR REPRESENTATION 43
Example 2.1
The XY Z coordinate system is rotated about the Z axis by 30
clockwise to obtain the xyz coordinates.

If a vector in the xyz coordinates has the value r = 3i 4j, express r in terms of the XY Z frame.
Using column vector notation, r is
{
xyz
r} =
_
3
4
_
[a]
The transformation angle is = 30
, so that the matrix between the two coordinate systems is

[R] =
_
cos sin
sin cos
_
=
_
0.8660 0.5000
0.5000 0.8660
_
[b]
The second of Eq. (2.3.9) can be used to express r in the XY Z frame, with the result
_
XY Z
r
_
= [R]
T
{
xyz
r} =
_
0.8660 0.5000
0.5000 0.8660
_ _
3
4
_
=
_
0.5981
4.9641
_
[c]
The results can be checked by noting that the magnitude of {
xyz
r} and
_
XY Z
r
_
must be the
same. Therefore,
{
xyz
r}
T
{
xyz
r} = 3
2
+ 4
2
= 25
_
XY Z
r
_
T
_
XY Z
r
_
= 0.5981
2
+ 4.9641
2
= 25.00001 [d]
where the dierence is due to roundo error.
2.4 Column Vector Representation
This section discusses two notations to represent vectors. Consider a coordinate system with unit
vectors e
1
, e
2
, and e
3
, which form a mutually orthogonal set. Also consider two vectors r and q
dened as
r = r
1
e
1
+r
2
e
2
+r
3
e
3
q = q
1
e
1
+q
2
e
2
+q
3
e
3
(2.4.1)
A set of vectors described this way is referred as geometric vectors or spatial vectors. The dot and
cross products of these vectors yield
r q = r
1
q
1
+r
2
q
2
+r
3
q
3
r q = (r
2
q
3
r
3
q
2
) e
1
+ (r
3
q
1
r
1
q
3
) e
2
+ (r
1
q
2
r
2
q
1
) e
3
(2.4.2)
The previous section demonstrated that the vectors r and q can be expressed in column vector format
as
{r} =
_
_
r
1
r
2
r
3
_
_
{q} =
_
_
q
1
q
2
q
3
_
_
(2.4.3)
The column vectors are also referred to as algebraic vectors. Using this description, we can
express the dot product of two geometric vectors in column vector format as
r q = {r}
T
{q} (2.4.4)
The skew-symmetric matrix [ r] associated with the column vector {r} is a compact way of expressing
a cross product. Dene it as
[ r] =
_
_
0 r
3
r
2
r
3
0 r
1
r
2
r
1
0
_
_
(2.4.5)
so that
r q = [ r] {q} =
_
_
r
2
q
3
r
3
q
2
r
3
q
1
r
1
q
3
r
1
q
2
r
2
q
1
_
_
(2.4.6)
Note that because r q = q r, the relationship [ r] {q} = [ q] {r} also holds.
In dynamics, and particularly in kinematics, we frequently encounter the vector product r
(r q). The expression is commonly shortened to r r q, with the understanding that the cross
product between r and q is performed rst. Using the notation introduced above,
r (r q) = [ r] [ r] {q} (2.4.7)
The matrix multiplications in [ r] [ r] {q} can be performed in any order.
Another use of the column vector notation arises when taking derivatives of a function with
respect to a set of variables, or when taking the derivative of a scalar with respect to a vector. Consider
a vector {q} = [q
1
q
2
. . . q
n
]
T
of dimension n, where the elements q
1
, q
2
, . . . , q
n
are variables that are
independent of each other, and a scalar S which is a function of these variables, S = S(q
1
, q
2
, . . . , q
n
).
The derivative of S with respect to the the vector {q} is dened as the n-dimensional row vector
dS/d{q}, whose elements have the form
dS
d{q}
=
_
dS
dq
1
dS
dq
2
. . .
dS
dq
n
_
(2.4.8)
The derivative of one column vector with respect to another can be obtained in a similar
fashion. Consider the column vector {v} of order m, where {v} = [v
1
v
2
. . . v
m
]
T
, where the elements
of {v} are functions of q
1
, q
2
, . . . , q
n
. The derivative of {v} with respect to {q} is a matrix of order
mn having the form
d{v}
d{q}
=
_
_
dv
1
dq
1
dv
1
dq
2
. . .
dv
1
dqn
dv
2
dq
1
dv
2
dq
2
. . .
dv
2
dqn
. . .
dvm
dq
1
dvm
dq
2
. . .
dvm
dqn
_
_
(2.4.9)
For the special case when the scalar S is in quadratic form and expressed as S = {q}
T
[D] {q},
where the elements of the matrix [D] are not functions of the variables q
1
, q
2
, . . . , q
n
, the derivative
2.5. COMMONLY USED COORDINATE SYSTEMS 45
of S w.r.t. {q} has the form
dS
d{q}
=
d{q}
T
[D] {q}
d{q}
= {q}
T
[D] +{q}
T
[D]
T
(2.4.10)
and when the matrix [D] is symmetric we obtain
dS
d{q}
=
d{q}
T
[D] {q}
d{q}
= 2{q}
T
[D] (2.4.11)
Example 2.2
Consider the scalar S = 3x
2
+ 4y
2
5xy and express it in terms of a symmetric matrix [D].
Writing the variables in vector form as {q} = [x y]
T
and taking the derivative of S w.r.t. {q}
gives
{v}
T
=
dS
d{q}
= [6x 5y 8y 5x] = 2{q}
T
[D] [a]
from which it follows that
{v} = 2 [D]
T
{q} = 2 [D] {q} [b]
and
d{v}
d{q}
= 2 [D] =
_
6 5
5 8
_
[c]
Thus, the matrix [D] is
[D] =
_
3 2.5
2.5 4
_
[d]
2.5 Commonly Used Coordinate Systems
This section discusses four coordinate systems that are commonly used to describe motion. One of
these, rectilinear coordinates involves unit vectors that are xed in space, and the other three are
moving coordinate systems.
2.5.1 Rectilinear Coordinates
The axes of rectilinear coordinate system are xed in direction. The unit vectors along the coordinate
axes are also xed and hence their derivatives are zero. Consider a coordinate system XY Z with unit
vectors I, J and K along the X, Y and Z axes, respectively. Another commonly used coordinate
system is xyz with unit vectors i, j and k. Also consider a reference point O, and a point P, as shown
in Fig. 2.4. The position vector r
P
, which describes the position of point P, has the form
r
P
= X
P
I +Y
P
J +Z
P
K (2.5.1)
Figure 2.4: Rectilinear coordinates.
in which X
P
, Y
P
and Z
P
are the coordinates of point P, that is, their distance from the origin O
along the X, Y and Z axes. To obtain the velocity of point P, denoted by v
P
, the above expression
is dierentiated with respect to time. Noting that the time derivative of the unit vectors is zero,
v
P
=
dr
P
dt
=

X
P
I +

Y
P
J +

Z
P
K+X
P

I +Y
P

J +Z
P

K =

X
P
I +

Y
P
J +

Z
P
K (2.5.2)
with the overdots denoting dierentiation with respect to time. Similarly, the acceleration of point P,
which is denoted by a
P
, has the form
a
P
=
dv
P
dt
=

X
P
I +

Y
P
J +

Z
P
K (2.5.3)
The advantage of using a rectilinear coordinate system is its simplicity and the ease with which
components of the motion in other directions are viewed. The simplicity of rectilinear coordinates,
however, is also their disadvantage, as rectilinear coordinates provide no information about the nature
of the path that is followed.
Rectilinear coordinates are useful when components of the motion can be separated from each
other. A common application is projectile motion.
Example 2.3
A basketball player wants to shoot the basketball into the hoop. The player is at a distance L from
the basket and the basket is at a height h from the players chest, from where the player launches the
ball. The player wants the ball to travel as a projectile and reach a height of 5h/4 before it begins its
descent towards the basket, as shown in Fig. 2.5. Calculate the initial velocity v
0
and angle with
which the player needs to launch the ball.
Neglecting the aerodynamics, the acceleration of the projectile in the x and z directions is
a
x
= 0 a
z
= g [a]
Figure 2.5: Basketball on a trajectory.
and the initial velocities in the x and z directions are
v
x
0
= v
0
cos v
z
0
= v
0
sin [b]
It follows that the expressions for velocity and acceleration can be written separately in the x and z
directions as
v
x
= v
0
cos x = v
0
cos t
v
z
= v
0
sin gt z = v
0
sint
1
2
gt
2
[c]
Point A is the point where the peak amplitude is reached. At this point, the vertical velocity
is zero, or v
z
= v
0
sin gt
A
= 0. Solution for the time t
A
it takes to reach this point becomes
t
A
=
v
0
sin
g
[d]
and the height reached at this point is
z = v
0
sin
v
0
sin
g

1
2
g
_
v
0
sin
g
_
2
=
1
2
v
2
0
sin
2
g
=
5
4
h [e]
Next, consider the time it takes to reach the basket, that is, point B. The horizontal distance
traversed L, can be expressed as x = L = v
0
cos t
B
. Solution of this equation for the time to reach B
gives
t
B
=
L
v
0
cos
[f ]
Introduction of the above expression into the height at time t = t
B
gives the height at time t
B
as
z(t
B
) = h = v
0
sin
L
v
0
cos

1
2
g
_
L
v
0
cos
_
2
[g]
There are two unknowns, v
0
and . The two equations that need to be solved are Eqs. [e] and
[g]. The solution can be simplied by introducing the variables u = v
0
cos and w = v
0
sin. Equation
[e] can be rewritten as
1
2
w
2
g
=
5
4
h w
2
=
5
2
gh [h]
Introducing this result into Eq. [g] and rearranging leads to a quadratic equation in terms of u
u
2
_
5g
2h
Lu +
1
2
gL
2
h
= 0 [i]
which can be solved as
u =
1
2
_
gL
2
h
_
_
5
2

_
5
2
2
_
=
1
2
_
gL
2
h
_
_
5
2

_
1
2
_
[j]
Note that there are two solutions. After calculating u and w, the next step is to solve for the
launch angle using the relation
w
u
=
v
0
sin
v
0
cos
= tan [k]
from which the angle is obtained as = tan
1
(w/u). We can then introduce the value of to any
one of the expressions for u or w to nd the launch speed.
This example can be used as a a parametric study to determine the best options for maximizing
possibilities of scoring a basket.
2.5.2 Normal-Tangential Coordinates
Normal-tangential coordinates take into consideration the properties of the path taken by the moving
body, which is extremely useful. On the other hand, normal-tangential coordinates are not very useful
in describing position.
Figure 2.6: Particle on a curved path.
Consider a particle moving along a curved path. The normal-tangential coordinate system is
a moving coordinate system attached to the particle. Two principal directions describe the motion,
normal and tangential. To obtain these directions, consider the position of the particle after it has
traveled distances s and s +s along the path, as shown in Fig. 2.6. The associated position vectors,
measured from a xed location, are denoted by r (s) and r (s + s), respectively. Dene by r the
dierence between r (s) and r (s + s), thus
r = r (s + s) r (s) (2.5.4)
As s becomes small, r and s have the same length and become parallel to each other. Further,
r becomes aligned with the tangent to the curve. The tangential direction is taken as the direction
tangent to the curve with the positive direction in the same direction as the velocity. The unit vector
in the tangential direction is dened as
e
t
= lim
s0
r
s
=
dr
ds
(2.5.5)
The tangential direction is shown in Fig. 2.7. The unit vector e
t
changes direction as the particle
moves.
The velocity is obtained by dierentiating the displacement vector with respect to time. Using
the chain rule for dierentiation,
Figure 2.7: Normal and tangential directions.
v (t) =
dr
dt
=
dr
ds
ds
dt
(2.5.6)
Using the denition of e
t
from Eq. (2.5.5) and noting that the speed v is the rate of change of the
distance traveled along the path, v = ds/dt, the expression for velocity becomes
v (t) = ve
t
(2.5.7)
The second principal direction is dened as normal to the curve and directed toward the center
of curvature of the path, and it is shown in Fig. 2.7. This direction is dened as the normal direction
(n), and the associated unit vector is denoted by e
n
. The center of curvature associated with a certain
point on a path lies along a line perpendicular to the path at that point. An innitesimal arc of the
curve in the vicinity of that point can be viewed as a circular path, with the center of curvature at
the center of the circle. The radius of the circle is called the radius of curvature and is denoted by .
The two unit vectors introduced above are orthogonal, that is, e
t
e
n
= 0.
Dierentiation of Eq. (2.5.7) with respect to time gives the acceleration of the particle a(t) as
a(t) = v (t) = ve
t
+v e
t
(2.5.8)
Figure 2.8: Innitesimal change in tangential direction.
The derivative of e
t
is needed to calculate the acceleration. To this end, consider Fig. 2.7 and
displace the particle by an innitesimal distance ds along the path. The unit vectors associated with
the new location are e
t
(s +ds) and e
n
(s +ds). The center of curvature remains the same as the
particle is moved innitesimally, so the arc length can be expressed as ds = d in which d is the
innitesimal angle traversed as the particle moves by a distance ds. Dening the vector connecting
e
t
(s +ds) and e
t
(s) by de
t
, so that de
t
= e
t
(s +ds) e
t
(s). From Fig. 2.8 the angle between
e
t
(s +ds) and e
t
(s) is small, so that
|de
t
| sind|e
t
(s)| d =
ds
(2.5.9)
or
de
t
ds
=
1
(2.5.10)
The radius of curvature is a measure of how much a curve bends. For motion along a straight
line, the curve does not bend and the radius of curvature has the value of innity. For plane motion,
using the coordinates x and y such that the curve is described by y = y(x), the expression for the
radius of curvature can be shown to be
1
d
2
y/dx
2
_
1 + (dy/dx)
2
_
3/2
(2.5.11)
The absolute value sign in the above equation is necessary because the radius of curvature is dened as
a positive quantity. Considering the sign convention adopted above, the derivative of the unit vector
in the tangential direction becomes
de
t
ds
=
e
n
(2.5.12)
Using the chain rule, the time derivative of e
t
becomes
e
t
=
de
t
ds
ds
dt
=
v
e
n
(2.5.13)
Introduction of this relationship to Eq. (2.5.8) yields
a(t) = v (t) = ve
t
+
v
2
e
n
(2.5.14)
The rst term on the right in this equation is the component of the acceleration due to a change in
speed, referred to as tangential acceleration (a
t
). The second term is the contribution due to a change
in direction, referred to as the normal acceleration (a
n
). The acceleration expression can be written
as
a(t) = a
t
e
t
+a
n
e
n
(2.5.15)
with a
t
= v and a
n
= v
2
/.
The normal and tangential directions dene the instantaneous plane of motion, also known
as the osculating plane. The velocity and acceleration vectors lie on this plane. The orientation of
osculating plane changes direction (twists), as the particle moves.
Example 2.4 - Road Curvature Design
Roads that change direction have to be designed with a curvature. The amount of curvature depends
on the maximum normal acceleration that a vehicle can have and not slide. When designing a curving
road, two important considerations are the amount of curvature and the variation of the curvature as
the vehicle enters and leaves a curve.
1
Figure 2.9: Connecting two roads by a quarter circle.
Suppose you are designing a connection between two roads. The roads are perpendicular, as
shown in Fig. 2.9. Geometrically, the easiest way of designing the connection is to form a rectangle,
whose sides are a and b and to t a quarter ellipse (quarter circle of radius

2b if a = b) into the
rectangle. The disadvantage of this design is that, even for a vehicle moving with constant speed, the
1
Banking of the curve is another important factor. We will discuss this issue in the next chapter, when discussing
kinetics.
lateral acceleration will be zero before entering the curve and v
2
/ immediately after. This substantial
jump in acceleration, even if it can be sustained by the friction between the tires and the road surface,
contributes to shock (or jerk, dened earlier as the time derivative of acceleration) and can cause
discomfort. Also, the driver may have to conduct a rapid steer maneuver, which has a destabilizing
eect.
A wiser choice of curved road design is one where the radius of curvature gradually changes.
Two examples of such a curve are shown in Fig. 2.10. The slow initial change in curvature is usually
compensated for by a higher curvature in the middle of the curve. Regardless of understeer, which is
included in the design of most vehicles, a driver driving into a curve usually has to turn the steering
wheel more to accommodate the smaller radius of curvature in the middle of the curve. The second
curve in Fig. 2.10, where the vehicle rst turns away from the curve (seems contrary to intuition), is
used to maximize the smallest radius of curvature of the path. This countersteer action is also what
a bicycle rider (or speed skater) does when taking a turn.
Figure 2.10: Improved road curvature design.
Example 2.5
The motion of a point is described in Cartesian coordinates xy as x(t) = 2t
2
+4t, y (t) = 0.1t
3
+cos t,
z (t) = 3t. Find the radius of curvature and normal and tangential accelerations at t = 0.
To nd the radius of curvature, we need to rst calculate the normal and tangential directions,
as well as the speed and the acceleration components in terms of the normal and tangential coordinates.
The position, velocity and acceleration vectors are
r (t) =
_
2t
2
+ 4t
_
i +
_
0.1t
3
+ cos t
_
j + 3tk [a]
v (t) = dr (t) /dt = (4t + 4) i +
_
0.3t
2
sint
_
j + 3k [b]
a(t) = dv (t) /dt = 4i + (0.6t cos t) j [c]
The speed is
v =

v v =
_
(4t + 4)
2
+ (0.3t
2
sint)
2
+ 9 [d]
and the unit vector in the tangential direction an be written as e
t
= v/v. At t = 0 the velocity and
speed become
v (0) = 4i + 3k v (0) =
_
4
2
+ 3
2
= 5 [e]
so that the unit vector in the tangential direction is
e
t
=
v
v
=
4
5
i +
3
5
k [f ]
At this point, as accelerations have yet not been taken into consideration, there is not enough
information to determine e
n
. The value of the acceleration at t = 0 is
a(0) = 4i j [g]
The tangential acceleration can be obtained from
a
t
(0) = a(0) e
t
= (4i j) (4i + 3k) /5 = 3.2 [h]
and the normal acceleration becomes
a
n
= a
n
e
n
= a a
t
e
t
= (4i j) 3.2 (4i + 3k) /5 = 1.44i j 1.92k [i]
The magnitude of the normal acceleration is
a
n
=

a
n
a
n
=
_
1.44
2
+ 1 + 1.92
2
= 2.6 [j]
so the unit vector in the normal direction is
e
n
=
a
n
a
n
=
1.44i j 1.92k
2.6
[k]
Taking the dot product with the unit vector in the tangential direction, we can conrm that the two
unit vectors are orthogonal to each other.
The radius of curvature can be calculated using
=
v
2
a
n
=
5
2
2.6
= 9.615 [l]
2.5.3 Cylindrical Coordinates
Cylindrical coordinates and their two-dimensional counterpart, polar coordinates, are preferred when
motion is along a curved path, the distance of a point from an origin is of interest and one component
of the motion can be separated from the other two. A common use of polar coordinates is in orbital
mechanics.
Consider a point P and an inertial coordinate system XY Z with point O acting as the reference
point from which P is observed, as shown in Fig. 2.11a. The position of point P can be described by
Figure 2.11: Cylindrical coordinates.
rst taking the projection of P onto the XY plane, denoted by P
. The distance Z
P
from points P
to P
is along the vertical direction and it is one of the parameters describing the motion. Next, draw
a line from point O towards P
and call the direction of this line as the radial direction. The radial
direction is also denoted as the r-direction and the associated unit vector along is denoted by e
r
. The
distance r from points O to P
is the second parameter describing the motion. The third parameter is

the angle between the radial direction and X-axis and is denoted by and measured in radians. The
unit vector along the radial direction, e
r
, is
e
r
= cos I + sinJ (2.5.16)
The transverse direction lies on the XY plane and it is perpendicular to the radial direction.
Its positive direction is along the direction of a positive rotation of . The unit vector along the
transverse direction, denoted by e
, is along this direction and it obeys the rule e

r
e
= K. From
Fig. 2.11b, e
is
e
= cos J sinI (2.5.17)

The position of point P is expressed in cylindrical coordinates as
r
P
= X
P
I +Y
P
J +Z
P
K = Re
r
+Z
P
K (2.5.18)
The unit vectors e
r
and e
change direction as point P moves. To obtain the velocity, we need to

dierentiate the above equation
v
P
= r
P
=

Re
r
+R e
r
+

Z
P
K (2.5.19)
which requires the derivative of the unit vector in the radial direction. To calculate this derivative,
consider the projection of the motion onto the XY plane and that the particle has moved to point Q,
whose projection is Q
. Consequently, the coordinate system has moved by , as shown in Fig. 2.12.

The unit vectors of the new coordinate system are denoted by e
r
( + ) and e
( + ) and
related to e
r
() and e
() by
e
r
( + ) = e
r
() cos +e
() sin
Figure 2.12: Polar coordinate system moved by .
e
( + ) = e
r
() sin +e
() cos (2.5.20)
Using a small angles assumption of sin , cos 1, and taking the limit as approaches
zero, the derivatives of the unit vectors become
lim
0
e
r
( + ) e
r
()
=
de
r
d
= e
lim
0
e
( + ) e
()
=
de
d
= e
r
(2.5.21)
The time derivatives of the unit vectors become
e
r
=
de
r
d
d
dt
=

e
=
de
d
d
dt
=
e
r
(2.5.22)
which, when substituted in the expression for velocity in Eq. (2.5.19), results in
v =

Re
r
+R
+

Z
P
K (2.5.23)
The rst term on the right side corresponds to a change in the radial distance and the second term to
a change in angle.
In a similar fashion we can nd the expression for acceleration. Dierentiation of Eq. (2.5.23)
yields
a
P
= v
P
=

Re
r
+

R e
r
+

R
+R
+R
+

Z
P
K (2.5.24)
Substituting in the values for the derivatives of the unit vectors and combining terms gives
a
P
=
_
R R
2
_
e
r
+
_
R
+ 2

R
_
e
+

Z
P
K (2.5.25)
We can attribute a physical meaning to the acceleration terms. The rst term,

R, describes
the rate of change of the component of the velocity in the radial direction. The second term, R
2
,
is the centripetal acceleration. This term is always in the negative radial direction, as R is always
positive. The term R
describes the acceleration due to a change in the angle . The next term, 2

R
,
is known as the Coriolis acceleration, named after the French military engineer Gustave G. Coriolis
(1792-1843). The Coriolis acceleration is due to two sources. Both deal with a changing distance in a
rotating system, hence the coecient 2.
Cylindrical coordinates are most suitable to use when one component of the motion (which is
selected as the Z (or z)direction) is separable from the others.
Example 2.6
For the mechanism in Fig. 2.13, the crank is at an angle = 30
and is rotating at the rate of = 0.2

rad/s, which is increasing by = 0.1 rad/s
2
. The crank causes the slotted link to rotate. Using
cylindrical coordinates, calculate r and r associated with point P on the slotted link for the special
case when b = a.
Figure 2.13: Crank and slotted link.
As in any kinematics problem, the analysis begins with examining the position, continues on
to velocity analysis, and then accelerations. Because OPB is an isosceles triangle, = /2, so that
=

2
=

2
[a]
The polar coordinates for the slotted link r, , the normal-tangential coordinates for the crank
t, n and the inertial coordinates X, Y are shown in Fig. 2.14. The length r can be shown to be
r = 2a cos [b]
The velocity of the tip of the crank is
v
P
= ve
t
= a e
t
= 2a
e
t
[c]
where v = a . The velocity of point P in terms of polar coordinates is
v
P
= re
r
+r
[d]
Figure 2.14: Coordinate systems for crank and slotted link.
Equating Eqs. [c] and [d] leads to the expression for r. From Fig. 2.14, the unit vector in the tangential
direction becomes
e
t
= sine
r
+ cos e
[e]
so that
v
P
= 2a
e
t
= 2a
sine
r
+ 2a
cos e
[f ]
and considering Eq. [c] gives
r = 2a
sin

=
2a
cos
r
=

2
[g]
Note that r can also be obtained by direct dierentiation of Eq. [c].
To nd the second derivatives of r and of , we can either dierentiate the above equation,
which yields
r = 2a
sin + 2a
2
cos

=

2
[h]
or we can obtain the acceleration terms by equating the normal-tangential and polar components of
the acceleration. In normal-tangential coordinates, the acceleration is
a
P
= ve
t
+
v
2
e
n
[i]
where v = a
and = a, so that
a
P
= a
e
t
+a
2
e
n
[j]
The acceleration components in polar coordinates are
a
P
=
_
r r
2
_
e
r
+
_
r
+ 2 r
_
e
[k]
and the value for can be obtained by relating the components of the unit vectors in the two coordinate
systems.
It should be noted that when b = a, the solution becomes much more complicated from an
algebraic point of view, as r, and are related by
r cos = a +b cos r sin = b sin [l]
This example shows that we can obtain solutions to kinematics problems either by selecting coordinate
systems, or by nding algebraic relationships that describe the geometry and by dierentiating these
equations.
2.5.4 Spherical Coordinates
Spherical coordinates express position in terms of one position and two angular coordinates. An
important use of spherical coordinates is describing the position of a point on Earth in terms of the
points latitude and longitude. The conguration of spherical coordinates is shown in Fig. 2.15a.
There are several dierent conventions used to dene the principal directions associated with spherical
coordinates. The parameters used here are the absolute distance R of the point from a reference point
O, and two angles and , referred to as the azimuthal and zenith angles, respectively. The parameter
R here (total distance from reference point) is dierent than the R (distance from reference point to
projection onto the ZY plane) used in cylindrical coordinates. The azimuthal angle is the same as the
polar angle in cylindrical coordinates.
Figure 2.15: a) Spherical coordinate system, b) side view.
The principal directions are referred to as the radial, azimuthal and zenith. The radial direction
connects reference point O and point P, with the positive direction as outward. The corresponding
unit vector is denoted by e
R
, so that the position vector for P has the form
r
P
= Re
R
(2.5.26)
To dene the azimuthal and zenith directions, it is necessary to rst select and orient an inertial
XY Z coordinate system. In Earth geometry, the equatorial plane is the XY plane with the Z axis
towards the north. Projection of point P onto the XY plane is denoted by P
. Next, rotate the XY Z

coordinates about the Z axis by the azimuthal angle to get an xyz coordinate system, noting that
the x axis goes through point P
. In Earth geometry, the azimuth angle is the longitude. The zenith

angle is dened as the angle that the z axis makes with the radial direction, as shown in Fig. 2.15b.
In Earth coordinates, the zenith angle is known as the colatitude or 90
minus the latitude.

The unit vector in the radial direction can be expressed in terms of the xyz coordinates as
e
R
= sini + cos k = sini + cos K (2.5.27)
Noting that the unit vector in the x direction is
i = cos I + sinJ (2.5.28)
the unit vector in the radial direction in terms of the XY Z coordinates becomes
e
R
= sincos I + sinsinJ + cos K (2.5.29)
Figure 2.16: Top view of spherical coordinate system.
As shown in Fig. 2.16, the unit vector in the azimuthal direction is selected as similar to its
counterpart in cylindrical coordinates, the polar direction, so that
e
= j = sinI + cos J (2.5.30)

We can show that e
R
e
= 0, so the two unit vectors are orthogonal. The unit vector associated with
the zenith angle satises the relationship
e
= e
e
R
= cos cos I + cos sinJ sinK = cos i sink (2.5.31)
The unit vectors e
R
, e
and e
form a mutually orthogonal set with e

R
and e
lying on the xz (or xZ)

plane. We need to obtain the derivatives of the unit vectors associated with the spherical coordinates
in order to calculate velocities and accelerations. The procedure is tedious and only the results are
stated here:
e
R
= sin
+

e
(sine
R
+ cos e
) e
e
R
+ cos
(2.5.32)
v
P
= r
P
=
d
dt
(Re
R
) =

Re
R
+R
sine
+R

e
(2.5.33)
a
P
=
_
R R

2
R
2
sin
2
_
e
R
+
_
R
sin + 2

R
sin + 2R

cos
_
e
+
_
R
+ 2

R

R
2
sincos
_
e
(2.5.34)
Figure 2.17: Airplane tracked by radar.
Figure 2.18: Side view, with shifted axes.
Example 2.7
An airplane is traveling in the Y Z plane and, at the instant shown, it is executing a maneuver so
that it is at the bottom of a vertical loop that has a radius of curvature of 1500 m. The speed of the
airplane is constant at 550 km/hr. A radar is tracking the airplane. Using spherical coordinates and
a radar at point O, nd the values of

R and

.
Since the azimuthal angle is not of interest (but its derivative is), without loss of generality it
can be set equal to zero in Fig. 2.17, so that the xyz and XY Z coordinate systems coincide. Shifting
the reference point to O, as shown in Fig. 2.18, OPP
forms a 5-12-13 triangle, so = tan

1
(12/5) =
67.38
. The unit vectors are

e
R
=
12
13
I +
5
13
K e
= J e
= e
e
R
=
5
13
I
12
13
K [a]
and the radial distance is R =
1200
2
+ 500
2
= 1300 m.
The next step is velocity analysis. The velocity of the airplane is v = 550J km/h, and in m/s
it is
550
km
hr
= 550
km
hr
1000 m
1 km
1 hr
3600 s
= 152.77
m
s
[b]
The velocity is in the Y direction. The unit vectors in the radial and zenith directions do not have
components in the Y direction. Comparing with Eq. (2.5.33) leads to the conclusion that
v e
R
=

R = 0 v e
= R
sin = 1300
12
13
= 152.77 m/s v e
= R

= 0 [c]
Solving for

gives

= 152.77/1200 = 0.1273 rad/s.
The acceleration analysis is next. The aircraft is moving with constant speed on a curved path.
Considering normal-tangential coordinates, the only component of the acceleration is in the normal
direction (Z axis) and
a =
v
2
a
n
=
152.77
2
1500
K = 15.56K m/s
2
[d]
The components of the acceleration in the radial, azimuthal and zenith directions are
a e
R
= 15.56K
_
12
13
I +
5
13
K
_
= 5.985 m/s
2
a e
= 0
a e
= 15.57K
_
5
13
I
12
13
K
_
= 14.36 m/s
2
[e]
From Eq. (2.5.34) and considering from Eq. [c] that

R = 0,

= 0, the components of the
acceleration are
a e
R
=

R R
2
cos
2
a e
= R
cos a e
= R
2
sincos [f ]
We solve for the second derivatives of R, and by equating Eqs. [e] and [f]. The azimuthal component
yields

= 0 and the radial and zenith directions give
R = 5.985 +R
2
cos
2
= 5.985 + 1300 0.1273
2
(
12
13
)
2
= 23.94 m/s
2
=
1
1300
_
14.37 + 1300 (0.1273)
2
5
13

12
13
_
= 0.0053 rad/s
2
[g]
2.6 Moving Reference Frames
Section 2.3 discussed transformation of a coordinate system into another by a single rotation about one
of the coordinate axes. Then, we considered coordinate systems commonly used in dynamics. These
coordinates are obtained by coordinate transformations from initial frames. This section extends the
concept of coordinate transformations to the general case of rotations about coordinate axes.
Rotating coordinate systems are essential to the study of dynamics. There are several cases
where, either by choice or by necessity, we need to use a coordinate system that rotates to describe
motion. For example, when describing certain motions in the vicinity of the Earth, such as hurricane
formation and satellite launching, it is necessary to consider the rotation of the Earth in the mathe-
matical model. It is impossible to use a realistic xed reference frame to conduct such analysis. The
treatment of rigid body motion also is facilitated by use of rotating coordinate frames.
This section explores relationships between dierent reference frames and associated unit vec-
tors. Two notations will commonly be used to distinguish between dierent reference frames:
1. Denote one of the frames by XY Z and the other by xyz with unit vectors I, J, K and i, j, k,
respectively. In general, XY Z denotes a xed frame and xyz one that moves. Intermediate
frames are usually referred to as X
, X
, and so on.
2. In the second description, which is especially useful when several frames are involved, a letter
is assigned to each frame: for example, frames A and B. The coordinate axes of the frames
are called a
1
a
2
a
3
and b
1
b
2
b
3
and the unit vectors along the coordinate axes are dened as
a
1
, a
2
, and a
3
and b
1
, b
2
, and b
3
. Intermediate frames are dened in a similar fashion.
Consider a vector q as viewed in the B frame. This vector can be expressed as
q = q
1
b
1
+q
2
b
2
+q
3
b
3
(2.6.1)
in which q
1
, q
2
, and q
3
are the components of q. Because the unit vectors are orthogonal, we can
express each component as q
j
= q b
j
, (j = 1, 2, 3), so that
q = (q b
1
) b
1
+ (q b
2
) b
2
+ (q b
3
) b
3
(2.6.2)
The vector q can be resolved in the A frame, as well. However, referring to the components
q
i
(i = 1, 2, 3) will not make it possible to distinguish them from their counterparts associated with
the B frame. Rather, these components can be expressed as
q =
A
q
1
a
1
+
A
q
2
a
2
+
A
q
3
a
3
=
B
q
1
b
1
+
B
q
2
b
2
+
B
q
3
b
3
(2.6.3)
2.6. MOVING REFERENCE FRAMES 63
Figure 2.19: Direction angles of a vector.
so that in column vector format q becomes
_
A
q
_
=
_
A
q
1
A
q
2
A
q
3
T
_
B
q
_
=
_
B
q
1
B
q
2
B
q
3
T
(2.6.4)
This notation is similar to the notation used in Sec. 2.3 with XY Z and xyz as the coordinate axes.
It is of interest to investigate relationships between the unit vectors of two coordinate systems.
Consider the vector q and the unit vector e along it, so that q = qe, where q is the magnitude of q.
The angles that q makes with the axes of a coordinate system are denoted by
1
,
2
and
3
and are
called direction angles, as shown in Fig. 2.19. The direction cosines of q (and of e) are denoted by
c
1
, c
2
and c
3
and they are the cosines of the angles that e makes with the coordinate axes
e = cos
1
b
1
+ cos
2
b
2
+ cos
3
b
3
(2.6.5)
The direction cosines are written as c
j
= eb
j
= cos
j
, (j = 1, 2, 3), so that q = qc
1
b
1
+qc
2
b
2
+qc
3
b
3
.
Now, consider the unit vectors of the A and B frames. Considering the above equation, we
can write
b
j
= (b
j
a
1
) a
1
+ (b
j
a
2
) a
2
+ (b
j
a
3
) a
3
a
j
= (a
j
b
1
) b
1
+ (a
j
b
2
) b
2
+ (a
j
b
3
) b
3
(2.6.6)
The direction cosine between two coordinate axes a
j
and b
k
is the cosine of the angle between
the two axes, and is denoted by c
jk
= a
j
b
k
= cos
jk
(j, k = 1, 2, 3) . Dene the column vectors
containing the unit vectors of the two frames as {a} and {b}, where
{a} = [a
1
a
2
a
3
]
T
{b} = [b
1
b
2
b
3
]
T
(2.6.7)
and the direction cosine matrix [c]
_
_
c
11
c
12
c
13
c
21
c
22
c
23
c
31
c
32
c
33
_
_
(2.6.8)
from which we can show that
{b} = [c]
T
{a} (2.6.9)
Equation (2.6.9) can be inverted to yield
{a} = [c]
T
{b} (2.6.10)
Comparing Eq. (2.6.10) with Eq. (2.6.9) leads to the conclusion that the direction cosine matrix is
unitary (also called orthonormal), that is, its inverse is equal to its transpose, or
[c]
1
= [c]
T
[c] [c]
T
= [1] (2.6.11)
where [1] is the identity matrix. Note that the determinant of a general unitary matrix is 1, but for
the direction cosine matrix det [c] = 1.
Equation (2.6.9) also applies when relating the components of a vector resolved along the axes
of two coordinate systems. Indeed, consider the vector q and its column vector representation in the
A and B frames. We can show that
_
B
q
_
= [c]
T
_
A
q
_ _
A
q
_
= [c]
_
B
q
_
(2.6.12)
The denition of direction cosine above is not universally accepted. Some texts instead dene
the direction cosine by c
jk
= b
j
a
k
= cos
kj
(j, k = 1, 2, 3).
A total of nine direction cosines are dened, one for each angle between the j-th and k-
th coordinate axes (i, j = 1, 2, 3). These nine direction cosines are not independent of each other.
Equation (2.6.11) represents six independent equations that relate the direction cosines (six because
of the symmetry of [c] [c]
T
), reducing the number of independent direction cosines to three (9 direction
cosines - 6 relational equations).
2
It follows that, at most, three independent parameters are necessary
to represent the transformation from any given conguration of coordinate axes to another one. Two
issues that are of interest are:
How do we select these three rotation parameters?
Given the three parameters, how do we calculate the direction cosine matrix?
Given the direction cosine matrix, what are the three parameters associated with that matrix?
The next section will consider two approaches for the selection of the rotation parameters.
2.7 Selection of Rotation Parameters
This section considers two approaches for selecting the rotation parameters. The rst involves three
rotations about independent axes. The second approach uses a single rotation about an axis whose
orientation is specied.
2
We can demonstrate this by writing [c] as three column vectors [{c1}{c2}{c3}]. These vectors are orthogonal vectors
and they represent the direction angles of the axes of the transformed coordinates. It follows that Eq. (2.6.11) represents
the six possible dot products among these vectors.
2.7. SELECTION OF ROTATION PARAMETERS 65
2.7.1 Transformation by Three Rotation Angles
In the rst approach, the three parameters are selected as three independent rotations. This neces-
sitates selection of the axes about which these rotations are made. To this end, there are innite
choices. These axes are selected in a way to simplify calculations. It should be noted that any two
successive rotations have to be conducted about axes that are not parallel to each other. Otherwise,
the rotation angles will not be independent.
The choices of selecting axes about which rotations are made are narrowed down by carrying out
the rotations about the axes of coordinate frames. The procedure is demonstrated as follows. Denote
the initial position of the axes by frame A, with axes a
1
a
2
a
3
, and rotate frame A counterclockwise
by angle about one of the axes to get a rotated frame B, whose axes are b
1
b
2
b
3
. This rotation
convention ensures that det [c] = 1. Rotation about the a
1
axis is called a 1 rotation, about the a
2
axis
a 2 rotation and rotation about the a
3
axis a 3 rotation. These rotations are illustrated in Fig. 2.20.
Figure 2.20: Rotation types: a) a 1 rotation; b) a 2 rotation; c) a 3 rotation.
For a 1 rotation the unit vectors of the A and B frame are related by
b
1
= a
1
b
2
= cos a
2
+ sina
3
b
3
= sina
2
+ cos a
3
(2.7.1)
or, in matrix form
{b} = [c]
1
{a} = [R] {a} {
B
q} = [R] {
A
q} (2.7.2)
where [R] = [c]
1
is called the rotation matrix and has the form
For a 1 rotation [R] =
_
_
1 0 0
0 cos sin
0 sin cos
_
_
(2.7.3)
When the rotation is performed about the a
2
axis, that is, a 2 rotation, the rotated vectors
become
b
1
= cos a
1
sina
3
b
2
= a
2
b
3
= sina
1
+ cos a
3
(2.7.4)
and the rotation matrix has the form
_
_
cos 0 sin
0 1 0
sin 0 cos
_
_
(2.7.5)
For a 3 rotation, the rotated vectors are
b
1
= cos a
1
+ sina
2
b
2
= sina
1
+ cos a
2
b
3
= a
3
(2.7.6)
and the rotation vector is
_
_
cos sin 0
sin cos 0
0 0 1
_
_
(2.7.7)
For all three rotations above, the determinant of the rotation matrix is 1, or det[R] = 1. This veries
our earlier statement that the determinant of the direction cosine matrix is unity.
Consider now the three rotation angles needed for a general rotation sequence and how we can
accomplish the three rotations. To this end, two approaches can be identied: body-xed rotation
sequence and space-xed rotation sequence.
Body-Fixed Rotation Sequence
This rotation sequence can be visualized by considering a box and performing the rotations about a
set of axes attached to the box. Begin with an initial coordinate set a
1
a
2
a
3
, align the box with it and
rotate the box about one of the axes by an angle
1
. Let us call the resulting orientation of the box
the D frame with the axes d
1
d
2
d
3
, which are now aligned with the box. There are three choices in the
selection of the rotation axis.
The procedure is shown in Fig. 2.21a for a 3 rotation, that is, a rotation about the a
3
axis.
The associated rotation matrix is denoted by [R
1
]. Note that the subscript 1 denotes that this is the
rst rotation and not the axis about which the rotation takes place. As a result of the rotation, points
PQR on the box move to their new positions P
in Fig. 2.21b. These positions do not change

relative to the box.
Next, rotate the box about one of the d
1
d
2
d
3
axes by an angle
2
to obtain the new orientation
of the box, denoted as the H frame, with axes h
1
h
2
h
3
. The rotation matrix associated with this
rotation is denoted by [R
2
]. Two axes can be chosen for this rotation. If the rst rotation is carried
out about, say, a
3
, then d
3
= a
3
and the second rotation can only be carried out about d
1
or d
2
.
Otherwise, the two rotations cannot be distinguished from each other.
The third rotation is carried out by rotating the box about one of the axes h
1
h
2
h
3
by
3
to
obtain the nal frame B with axes b
1
b
2
b
3
. For the same reason described above, there are two axes to
rotate about. The associated rotation matrix is [R
3
]. It follows that there are 3 2 2 = 12 dierent
ways to carry out a body-xed rotation sequence. These possible ways of selection are known as Euler
angle sequences and they are denoted by the number of the axes about which the rotations are made.
Figure 2.21: Body-xed rotation about a
3
: a) initial position, b) after rotation by .
For example, if the rst rotation is about the a
3
axis, the second rotation is about the d
1
axis and
the third rotation is about the h
2
axis, the rotation sequence is called 3-1-2. Chapter 9 will quantify
rotation sequences and discuss their applications in more detail.
Consider next the combined rotation. For the three rotations above
{d} = [R
1
] {a} {h} = [R
2
] {d} {b} = [R
3
] {h} (2.7.8)
Combining the three rotations gives
{b} = [R
3
] [R
2
] [R
1
] {a} = [R] {a} (2.7.9)
and the combined rotation matrix is [R] = [R
3
] [R
2
] [R
1
].
Space-Fixed Rotation Sequence
Here, we consider an initial coordinate system and perform all three rotations about the axes of the
initial coordinates. Let a
1
a
2
a
3
be the initial axes. The rst rotation is about one of a
1
, a
2
or a
3
axes
to yield the d
1
d
2
d
3
axes, with {d} = [R
1
]{a}. Then, the coordinate axes d
1
d
2
d
3
are rotated about
one of the a
1
, a
2
or a
3
, but not about the same axis about which the rst rotation was made. Note
that the axis for the second rotation is not one of the axes of the rotated frame. The third rotation
is carried out about another one of a
1
, a
2
or a
3
. We can show that the combined rotation matrix has
the form
{b} = [R] {a} = [R
1
] [R
2
] [R
3
] {a} (2.7.10)
where the combined rotation matrix is in reverse order of the body-xed transformations. Space-xed
rotations are not used as frequently as body-xed rotations in dynamics. They come in handy when
dealing with kinematics problems, such as robotics and mechanisms.
Inversion
We have obtained values for the rotation matrix [R] (and hence direction cosine matrix [c]) in terms of
three rotation angles. The inverse problem, that is, given [R] or [c] to nd the three rotation angles, is
not as straightforward. To solve the inverse problem one needs to be given, in addition to [R] (or [c]),
the sequence under which the individual rotation transformations are made. Given this information,
the rotation matrix [R] is constructed and the unknowns are solved for. In general, we look at he
general form of [R] and begins with the entries of [R] that are the simplest to solve for.
2.7.2 Resolving a Rotated Vector
So far, we have developed two coordinate systems and looked at the same vector in the two coordinate
systems. That is, if the coordinates of a particular vector are {
A
q} = [
A
q
1
A
q
2
A
q
3
]
T
in the A frame,
and the coordinates of that same vector are {
B
q} = [
B
q
1
B
q
2
B
q
3
]
T
in the B frame, then
_
B
q
_
= [R]
_
A
q
_
(2.7.11)
Figure 2.22: a) Initial position of vector, b) rotated vector.
Another problem of interest in kinematics is to take a vector, to rotate the vector and to nd
the coordinates of the rotated vector in the original coordinate system. Consider the A frame and
attach a box (or a rectangle) to it, as shown in Fig. 2.22a. Let us select point P on the box and select
the vector to rotate as going from O to P. The initial position of the vector is q
i
or {
A
q
i
}. Next,
rotate the vector q
i
(or the box to which the vector is attached). For illustrative purposes, Fig. 2.22b
shows a rotation by about the a
1
axis. The rotated vector is denoted by q
f
or {
A
q
f
}, and this
vector connects points O and P
, where P
is the point to which P moves after the rotation. Note

that rotating the vector is equivalent to rotating the box (or rectangle) in which the vector is dened.
Consider now a second frame B, which is obtained by rotating the A frame the same way the
vector q
i
was rotated. The initial and rotated vectors can also be expressed in terms of the B frame as
{
B
q
i
} and {
B
q
f
}. Making use of the coordinate transformation relationships we can relate the initial
and nal vectors in the two coordinate systems as
_
B
q
i
_
= [R]
_
A
q
i
_ _
B
q
f
_
= [R]
_
A
q
f
_
(2.7.12)
Because the vector is attached to the reference frame, the initial vector in the A frame has the
same coordinates as the rotated vector in the B frame. Hence,
_
B
q
f
_
=
_
A
q
i
_
(2.7.13)
Combining the above two equations, the initial and nal positions of the vector in the initial A frame
are expressed as
_
A
q
f
_
= [R]
T
_
A
q
i
_
(2.7.14)
Let us compare equations (2.7.11) and (2.7.14). In Eq. (2.7.11) the vector is xed, but is
viewed from two dierent coordinate frames. In Eq. (2.7.14) the vector is rotated, but its initial and
nal locations are viewed from the same reference frame. In one case the transformation matrix is [R]
and in the other it is [R]
T
, denoting inverse transformations. It follows that viewing a xed vector
from a rotated frame is exactly the opposite of rotating that vector (in the same amount) and viewing
the rotated vector from the xed frame.
2.7.3 Single Rotation about a Specied Axis
This rotation approach is based on Eulers theorem, which states that the most general transformation
of a rigid body with one xed point can be described as a single rotation about a certain axis going
through the xed point. The axis about which the rotation is made is called the principal line and is
denoted by n, as shown in Fig. 2.23a. The unit vector along this axis is expressed as n. The rotation
angle is called the principal angle and is denoted by .
Figure 2.23: a) General rotation of a vector, b) top view, c) side view.
The three direction cosines of the axis of rotation {n} = [n
1
n
2
n
3
]
T
are not independent and
they obey the relationship n
2
1
+ n
2
2
+ n
2
3
= 1, so that given two direction cosines the third can be
ascertained to within a value. Hence, only two of the parameters are independent. The rotation
angle becomes the third parameter. When the sign of the third direction cosine is changed, this
means the principal line is pointing in the opposite direction and the same transformation can be
achieved by reversing the sign of .
Given a vector q
i
and rotating it by about axis n, the rotated vector, denoted by q
f
, can
be expressed as
q
f
= cos q
i
+ (1 cos )(q
i
n)n + sinn q
i
(2.7.15)
or, in column vector notation
{q
f
} = cos {q
i
} + (1 cos ) {n}{n}
T
{q
i
} + sin[ n] {q
i
} (2.7.16)
or
{q
f
} =
_
cos [1] + (1 cos ){n}{n}
T
+ sin[ n]
{q
i
} (2.7.17)
where [ n] is the skew-symmetric matrix associated with the vector {n}.
The validity of the above relationship can be demonstrated by dening a coordinate system
with directions n, a
1
, a
2
and rotating the coordinate system about n by . Referring to the rotated
coordinate system as n, a
1
, a
2
, as shown in 2.23b, the two sets of vectors are related by
a
1
= cos a
1
+ sina
2
a
2
= sina
1
+ cos a
2
(2.7.18)
Figure 2.23c shows the side view. The angle is not a rotation parameter; rather, it is the
angle between the principal line and the vector q. Now, consider the initial and rotated vectors q
i
and q
f
and denote the magnitude of these vectors by q. Because q
f
is obtained by rotating q
i
about
n, the two vectors have the same components along the initial and rotated axes. These vectors are
written as
q
i
= q cos n q sina
2
q
f
= q cos n q sina
2
(2.7.19)
Substitution of the value for a
2
from the above equation leads to
q
f
= q cos n +q sin sina
1
q sin cos a
2
(2.7.20)
The above equation can be rewritten as
q
f
= q cos (cos n sina
2
) +q (1 cos ) cos n +q sin sina
1
(2.7.21)
The rst term in the above equation is recognized as cos q
i
. Noting that cos = q
i
n, the second
term can be written as (1 cos )(q
i
n)n. Finally, evaluating
sinn q
i
= sinn q (cos n + sina
2
) = q sinsina
1
(2.7.22)
The conclusion is that Eq. (2.7.15) and Eq. (2.7.21) are equivalent.
Equations (2.7.16) - (2.7.17) give the relationship between the initial and nal positions of a
vector in column vector format. Hence, considering an initial frame and rotate it by angle about n
to get a rotated frame, the direction cosine matrix between the two frames has the form
[c] = [R]
T
= cos [1] + (1 cos ) {n}{n}
T
+ sin[ n] (2.7.23)
which is a useful way of calculating the rotation matrix between two reference frames. Given a rotation
matrix [R], calculation of the associated principal line and rotation angle will be discussed in Chapter
9.
2.7.4 Finite Rotations Do Not Commute
The preceding analysis leads to the conclusion that the order in which rotations of coordinates are
performed makes a dierence in the orientation of the transformed coordinate system. This holds true
whether the rotations are performed as a body-xed rotation sequence or as space-xed rotations.
We can verify this visually, by taking a book and rotating it about two axes in dierent sequences.
The procedure is illustrated in Fig. 2.24 for a body-xed rotation sequence. Begin with the XY Z
frame, where the book lies on the XZ plane. Rotate the book by 90
about the X axis to get the

X
coordinates and then rotate about the Z
axis by 90
to get the xyz coordinates. Repeating

the procedure with rst rotating about the Z and then X
coordinates leads to a dierent orientation

of the book.
Figure 2.24: Finite rotations do NOT commute.
The conclusion is that sequences of nite rotations in three dimensions cannot be expressed
as vectors, as the commutativity rule does not hold. It follows that there does not exist an angular
position vector to dierentiate in order to obtain angular velocity, except for the special case of plane
motion. The subsequent sections will provide denitions for the angular velocity of a reference frame.
Example 2.8
Given the rotation matrix
[R] =
_
_
0.1768 0.8839 0.4330
0.9186 0.3062 0.2500
0.3536 0.3536 0.8660
_
_
[a]
nd the rotation angles if the coordinate axes are obtained by a 3-1-3 transformation.
For a 3-1-3 transformation with angles
1
,
2
and
3
, the combined rotation matrix is expressed
as
[R] = [R
3
][R
2
][R
1
] [b]
where
[R
1
] =
_
_
cos
1
sin
1
0
sin
1
cos
1
0
0 0 1
_
_
[R
2
] =
_
_
1 0 0
0 cos
2
sin
2
0 sin
2
cos
2
_
_
[R
3
] =
_
_
cos
3
sin
3
0
sin
3
cos
3
0
0 0 1
_
_
[c]
Carrying out the algebra, the combined rotation matrix has the form
[R] =
_
_
c
3
c
1
s
3
c
2
s
1
c
3
s
1
+s
3
c
2
c
1
s
3
s
2
s
3
c
1
c
3
c
2
s
1
s
3
s
1
+c
3
c
2
c
1
c
3
s
2
s
2
s
1
s
2
c
1
c
2
_
_
[d]
where the compact notation is used, where s denotes the sine and c to denotes the cosine functions.
For example c
1
= cos
1
. When proceeding to identify the rotation angles, it is convenient to begin
with the simplest expression, R
33
R
33
= cos
2
= 0.8660 =
2
= 30
[e]
where the rotation angles in the range of 180
to 180
. Comparing the other simple elements in the

rotation matrix yields
R
13
R
33
= tan
3
=
0.433
0.250
=

3 =
3
= 60
or 120
[f ]
R
31
R
32
= tan
1
= 1 =
2
= 45
or 135
[g]
Begin with the assumption that
2
= 30
. Examining R
31
and R
11
leads to
R
31
= sin
2
sin
1
= 0.5 sin
1
= 0.3536 R
13
= sin
3
sin
2
= 0.5 sin
3
= 0.4330 [h]
It follows that the sines of both these angles are negative, and we conclude from Eqs. [f] and [g] that
1
= 45

2
= 30

3
= 120
[i]
The next step is to check the accuracy of the assumption that was made. Calculating any one
of the remaining elements of [R], say R
11
, gives
R
11
= cos
3
cos
1
sin
3
cos
2
sin
1
=
1
2
2
2
+
3
2
3
2
2
2
= 0.1768 [j]
But R
11
= 0.1768, so the assumption made earlier about
2
is incorrect. It follows that
2
= 30
.
Following the same procedure as in Eq. [h] leads to
R
31
= sin
2
sin
1
= 0.5 sin
1
= 0.3536 R
13
= sin
3
sin
2
= 0.5 sin
3
= 0.4330 [k]
and the conclusion is
1
= 45

2
= 30

3
= 120
[l]
Substituting these values into R
11
or in any other element of [R], the correctness of results in
Eq. [l] is conrmed.
Example 2.9
An xyz coordinate system is obtained by rotating the XY Z coordinates about a line n that makes
an angle of 30
with the X axis, 60
with the Y axis and is perpendicular to the Z axis, as shown

in Fig. 2.25. Calculate the direction matrix [c] between XY Z and xyz when the rotation angle is
= 66
and the coordinates of a point dened by r

P
= 2I after rotation in the XY Z frame.
Figure 2.25: Rotation axis n.
The direction cosines of the principal line are
n
X
=
3
2
n
Y
=
1
2
n
Z
= 0 [a]
and the associated [ n] matrix is
[ n] =
_
_
0 n
Z
n
Y
n
Z
0 n
X
n
Y
n
X
0
_
_ =
1
2
_
_
0 0 1
0 0
3
1

3 0
_
_ [b]
Noting that cos = cos (66
) = 0.4067, sin = sin(66
) = 0.9135, and using Eq. (2.7.23) results

in
[c] = 0.4067
_
_
1 0 0
0 1 0
0 0 1
_
_
+ 0.5933
1
4
_
_
3
1
0
_
_
_
_
3
1
0
_
_
T
0.9135
1
2
_
_
0 0 1
0 0
3
1

3 0
_
_ =
_
_
0.8517 0.2569 0.4568
0.2569 0.5551 0.7912
0.4568 0.7912 0.4067
_
_
[c]
To nd the location of point P after the rotation, we can use the relationship {q
f
} = [c]{q
i
},
where {q
i
} = [2 0 0]
T
, with the result
{q
f
} = [c]{q
i
} =
_
_
0.8517 0.2569 0.4568
0.2569 0.5551 0.7912
0.4568 0.7912 0.4067
_
_
_
_
2
0
0
_
_
=
_
_
1.7034
0.5138
0.9136
_
_
[d]
Note that the rotated vector {q
f
} is expressed in terms of the XY Z frame.
The same result can also be obtained by successive coordinate transformations. Noting that
for body xed transformations the rotations are conducted about one of the coordinate axes, the XY Z
frame is rotated so that one of the axes of the rotated frame is the n axis. This can be accomplished
by rotating about the Z axis by 30
, and calling the rotated axes X
. The associated rotation (a

3 rotation) matrix is
[R
1
] =
_
3/2 1/2 0
1/2

3/2 0
0 0 1
_
_ [e]
and X
axis is the same as the n axis in Fig. 2.25. Then, rotate the X
frame and the vector

r
P
= 2I about the X
axis by 66
to get the xyz frame. The associated rotation (a 1 rotation)

matrix is
[R
2
] =
_
_
1 0 0
0 0.4067 0.9135
0 0.9135 0.4067
_
_
[f ]
The position of the vector r
P
after the rotation, in terms of the X
frame, is
{
X
q
f
} = [R
2
]
T
{
X
q
i
} [g]
Noting that
_
_
X
_
_
= [R
1
]
_
_
X
Y
Z
_
_
[h]
so that {
X
q
f
} = [R
1
]
_
XY Z
q
f
_
, Eq. [g] can then be expressed in the XY Z frame as
_
XY Z
q
f
_
= [R
1
]
T
[R
2
]
T
[R
1
]
_
XY Z
q
i
_
= [R]
T
_
XY Z
q
i
_
[i]
where the rotation matrix between the initial and nal frames are
[R] = [R
1
]
T
[R
2
] [R
1
] [j]
The above result can be explained by noting that the rst rotation [R
1
] merely shifts to a
dierent coordinate frame but does not rotate the vector r
P
. The second rotation rotates the vector
r
P
. So, the two rotations are completely dierent in nature. Carrying out the matrix multiplications,
Eq. [j] gives the same results as Eqs. [c] and [d].
2.8 Rate of Change of a Vector, Angular Velocity
The previous section demonstrated that consecutive rotations of coordinate frames by nite angles do
not lend themselves to representation as vectors. Hence, we do not have a vector to dierentiate in
order to represent rotation rates. This section explores ways of looking at rotation rates and dening
the angular velocity vector.
When looking at the rate of change of a quantity, we must distinguish between derivatives
taken in dierent reference frames. For example, consider a moving vehicle and attach a reference
2.8. RATE OF CHANGE OF A VECTOR, ANGULAR VELOCITY 75
frame to the vehicle. When something inside the vehicle moves, say a passenger throws a ball up and
down, someone inside the vehicle sees the ball as moving up and down only. An observer outside the
vehicle sees the ball moving with the vehicle as well as moving with respect to the vehicle.
We can dene rates of rotations and angular velocities in a variety of ways. One is to use
innitesimal values for the angles in a body xed (or space-xed) rotation sequence. This approach is
intuitive, but not mathematically sound. Two more rigorous approaches are presented here; one that
makes use of column vector notation and one that is based on Eulers theorem. This section begins
with the denition of angular velocity for plane motion and then considers the three-dimensional case.
2.8.1 Angular Velocity for Plane Motion
Consider the two reference frames XY Z and xyz in Section 2.3, where the XY Z coordinates are
rotated by about the Z axis to arrive at the xyz coordinate system. Let us consider XY Z to be a
xed reference frame and evaluate the time derivative of the unit vectors associated with the moving
frame xyz. Dierentiating Eq. (2.3.1) leads to
d
dt
i =

(sinI + cos J) =

j
d
dt
j =

(cos I sinJ) =
i (2.8.1)
and
d
dt
k = 0, as the z direction is the same as the Z direction, which is xed. The above relationships
can be expressed in terms of the cross product involving the angular velocity vector = k =

k and
by writing
d
dt
i = i =

k i =

j
d
dt
j = j =
i
d
dt
k =

k k = 0 (2.8.2)
Indeed, when dealing with a single rotation about a xed axis, the rotation can be represented
as a vector, k. Taking the derivative of this vector gives the angular velocity =

k. The cross
products above are demonstrated in Fig. 2.26.
Figure 2.26: Cross products of unit vectors in xy plane.
The rate of change of a vector in the xed and moving frames is of interest. Consider rst a
vector that is xed in the xyz frame. This vector can be any type of vector, such as position, velocity
or acceleration, linear or angular momentum or angular velocity. To an observer attached to the xyz
frame, this vector does not move. As the xyz coordinate system is moving, an observer in the XY Z
system sees the vector move.
The vector of interest is q = q
x
i + q
y
j = q
X
I + q
Y
J. Because this vector is xed in the xyz
frame, its time derivative becomes
d
dt
q = q = q
x
i +q
y
j = q
x
i +q
y
j = q (2.8.3)
The rate of change of a vector that is xed in a moving frame is obtained by the cross product between
the angular velocity of the moving frame and the vector itself. This relationship is valid for both two-
or three-dimensional motion, as will be demonstrated soon.
Next, we consider the case when the vector q is not xed in the moving frame xyz but instead
it is changing with respect to the moving frame. The derivatives q
x
, q
y
are no longer zero and
d
dt
q = q
x
i + q
y
j + q (2.8.4)
Denoting by q
rel
= q
x
i + q
y
j the local derivative or relative rate of change of q, or the rate of change
of the vector q in the moving frame, we can write the above equation as
d
dt
q = q = q
rel
+ q (2.8.5)
The total derivative of a vector is comprised of two components: i) the change of the vector
as viewed from the moving frame, plus ii) the change due to the rotation of the moving frame. The
above equation is known as the transport theorem and it is valid for any vector that is being observed
from a moving (rotating) frame. The name transport reects the fact that the derivative is being
transported from one reference frame to another. The transport theorem is depicted in Fig. 2.27.
Figure 2.27: Derivative of a vector using transport theorem.
2.8.2 Angular Velocity for Three-Dimensional Motion
As discussed earlier, for three-dimensional rotation, the cumulative eect of rotation sequences cannot
be described as vectors and thus no rotation vector exists for us to dierentiate. Instead, we dene
angular velocity for three-dimensional motion by means of a column vector formulation.
Begin with the XY Z and xyz frame representations. The frame xyz rotates with respect to
the XY Z frame. Consider a vector q that is represented in terms of the two reference frames as
q = q
x
i +q
y
j +q
z
k = q
X
I +q
Y
J +q
Z
K (2.8.6)
Using the notation in Section 2.3, the vector q in column vector format has the form
_
XY Z
q
_
=
_
_
q
X
q
Y
q
Z
_
_
{
xyz
q} =
_
_
q
x
q
y
q
z
_
_
(2.8.7)
Two column vector representations are needed to indicate that the vector is expressed in two dierent
reference frames. The two vectors are related by
{
xyz
q} = [R]
_
XY Z
q
_
or
_
XY Z
q
_
= [R]
T
{
xyz
q} (2.8.8)
where [R] is the 3 3 rotation matrix. The form for [R] for plane motion is given in Eq. (2.3.3).
Dierentiation of the term on the right in Eq. (2.8.8) results in
_
XY Z
q
_
= [

R]
T
{
xyz
q} + [R]
T
{
xyz
q} (2.8.9)
The term {
xyz
q} is the derivative of the vector as viewed from the moving frame. The term [

R] is
the derivative or the rotation vector, and
_
XY Z
q
_
is the derivative of the vector viewed from the
non-moving (inertial) frame, that is, the total derivative. Introducing the notation for the derivative
of q as v = q =
d
dt
q, the rate of change vector v in terms of the XY Z and xyz frames becomes
_
XY Z
v
_
and {
xyz
v}, respectively. This way, {
xyz
v} = [R]
_
XY Z
v
_
.
Note that while the relationship
_
XY Z
v
_
=
_
XY Z
q
_
(2.8.10)
is valid, the similar-looking counterpart for xyz frame is not,
{
xyz
v} = {
xyz
q} (2.8.11)
This is because {
xyz
v} describes the rate of change vector in terms of the coordinates of the moving
frame, while {
xyz
q} denotes the local derivative of {
xyz
q} as viewed from the moving (rotating) frame.
Introducing Eq. (2.8.9) to Eq. (2.8.10) and left multiplying by [R] gives
[R]
_
XY Z
v
_
= {
xyz
v} = [R][

R]
T
{
xyz
q} +{
xyz
q} (2.8.12)
Let us examine the matrix product [R][

R]
T
more closely. For the special case of plane motion
(i.e., two-dimensional)
[R][

R]
T
=
_
cos sin
sin cos
_

_
sin cos
cos sin
_
=

_
0 1
1 0
_
(2.8.13)
which is recognized as the matrix representation [ ] of the angular velocity =

k in the xyz frame.
It follows that the above equation is yet another way to dene the angular velocity vector, and we can
write
{
xyz
v} = [ ] {
xyz
q} +{
xyz
q} (2.8.14)
which is the representation of the transport theorem in column vector notation. Note that all of the
terms in the above equation are expressed in terms of parameters associated with the xyz frame.
The same procedure can be carried out for the rotation matrix in three dimensions. Regardless
of the rotation sequence, we can show that [R][

R]
T
is a skew-symmetric matrix. Consider the identity
[R] [R]
T
= [1] and dierentiate it, which yields
[R] [

R]
T
+ [

R] [R]
T
= [0] (2.8.15)
The two terms in the preceding equation are transposes of each other. Indeed, denoting by
[W] = [R] [

R]
T
, it follows that [W]
T
= [

R] [R]
T
. A matrix which, when added to its transpose, yields
a null matrix must be skew-symmetric. The matrix [W] can be expressed as
[W] = [R] [

R]
T
=
_
_
0
z

y
z
0
x
y

x
0
_
_
(2.8.16)
Since [W] is skew-symmetric, it can be recognized as the matrix representation of a vector =
x
i +
y
j +
z
k used when expressing a cross product, [W] = [ ]. We refer to [W] = [ ] as the angular
velocity matrix.
The vector is dened as the angular velocity vector of the reference frame xyz with respect
to the XY Z frame and
x
,
y
and
z
as the instantaneous angular velocities or components of the
angular velocity vector. Thus, Eq. (2.8.12) is veried for three-dimensional motion.
It must be emphasized that, for three-dimensional rotations, the angular velocity vector is
a dened quantity and that it is not the derivative of another vector. For this reason, the angular
velocity vector is referred to as nonholonomic, a term that is associated with expressions that cannot
be integrated to another expression. The way we arrive at the angular velocity vector is completely
dierent from the derivation of the expression for translational velocity, or the rate of change of any
dened vector.
When using the A and B frame notation, the angular velocity vector of the B frame with
respect to the A frame is written as
A
B
, where the superscripts denote the frames that are related.
The angular velocity of the A frame with respect to the B frame is
B
A
and
B
A
=
A
B
. In addition,
the derivative of a vector obtained in a certain reference frame is denoted by a left superscript, such
as
B d
dt
q or
B
v. It follows that the transport theorem can be written as
A
d
dt
q =
B
d
dt
q +
A
B
q (2.8.17)
2.8.3 Other Denitions of Angular Velocity
The denition of angular velocity in the preceding subsection is not the only way angular velocity can
be dened. Two additional denitions are presented here. Consider the frames A and B. The angular
velocity of frame B with respect to frame A is dened by
A
B
=
1
b
1
+
2
b
2
+
3
b
3
=
_
b
2
b
3
_
b
1
+
_
b
3
b
1
_
b
2
+
_
b
1
b
2
_
b
3
(2.8.18)
This denition can be veried by analyzing the expressions for the rates of change of the unit vec-
tors. While the above denition is more abstract than the way we arrived at Eq. (2.8.16), it can be
substituted more easily into mathematical operations that involve angular velocity.
Yet another denition of angular velocity can be obtained from Eulers theorem and from the
relationship between initial and rotated vectors, as given in Eq. (2.7.15). Let us rewrite that equation
by replacing q
i
by q and by replacing q
f
by q
, which gives
q
= cos q + (1 cos ) (q n) n + sinn q (2.8.19)

A special application of Eq. (2.8.19) is for small rotations over small time intervals. Indeed, as
approaches zero,
d cos 1 sin q
q dq (2.8.20)
which, when substituted into Eq. (2.8.19) yields
dq = d(n q) (2.8.21)
Because the innitesimal rotation is taken about a single axis at that particular instant, division
of d by dt yields the angular velocity expression in the form
d
dt
= = n (2.8.22)
so that dq/dt = q.
2.8.4 Additive Properties of Angular Velocity
Now that we have dened angular velocity as a vector, we can use the additive properties of vectors
and obtain the angular velocity of a reference frame by adding up the angular velocities associated
with the rotations that lead to that reference frame. As an illustration, consider an initial frame XY Z
and rotate it by an angle
1
about the X axis to obtain a X
frame. The angular velocity of the

X
frame with respect to the initial frame XY Z is recognized as simple angular velocity. Denote
this angular velocity by
1
and express it as
1
=

1
I =

1
I
(2.8.23)
Next, rotate the X
frame about the Z
axis by an angle
2
to obtain the xyz frame. The
angular velocity of the xyz frame with respect to the intermediate X
frame is also simple angular

velocity and it can be expressed as
2
=

2
K
2
k (2.8.24)
The angular velocity of the xyz frame with respect to the XY Z frame can then be expressed as the
sum of the two angular velocities
=
1
+
2
=

1
I +

2
K
(2.8.25)
and we can use coordinate transformations to express the angular velocity in terms of the unit vectors
of XY Z, X
, or xyz. In general, it is more convenient to express the angular velocity of a reference

frame in terms of the unit vectors of that frame. For the example above, the angular velocity of the
xyz frame is expressed as
=

1
I
2
k (2.8.26)
Since the transformation from X
to xyz is a 3-rotation, and from Eq. (2.7.5) we write I
=
cos
1
i sin
1
j, thus the expression for angular velocity becomes
=

1
(cos
1
i sin
1
j) +

2
k =

1
cos
1
i

1
sin
1
j +

2
k (2.8.27)
It is clear that cannot be expressed as the derivative of another vector, even though the two
components of the angular velocity,
1
and
2
, are dierentiable when evaluated individually. The
situation does not change if is written in terms of the xed reference frame XY Z.
When using the A and B frame notations, if there is an additional reference frame, say D, we
begin with the A frame, rotate it to obtain the D frame and then rotate the D frame to obtain the B
frame. The angular velocities are related by
A
B
=
A
D
+
D
B
(2.8.28)
As discussed earlier, we usually attach the moving reference frame to the body. The angular
velocity of the reference frame and the angular velocity of the body are then the same. There are cases
when it is preferable to not attach the moving reference frame to the body. An important application
is rotating axisymmetric bodies. Axisymmetric bodies are analyzed at length in Chapters 9 and 11.
A simple illustration is presented here.
Consider Fig. 2.28a and the elbow-shaped pendulum that swings in the xy (or XY ) plane. The
z and Z axes are along the same direction and the relation between the xyz and XY Z coordinates is
shown in Fig. 2.28b. A disk is rotating with angular velocity with respect to the pendulum. We
attach the xyz frame to the elbow and write the angular velocities of the disk and the reference frame
as
elbow
=
frame
=

K =

k
disk
=
frame
+
disk/frame
=

k + i (2.8.29)
The angular velocity of the disk is expressed in terms of coordinates of a reference frame not
attached to the disk. It is important to make the distinction between the angular velocities of the
reference frame and of the body. This distinction will be discussed again in the next section, within
the context of angular acceleration. From now on, the angular velocity of a reference frame will be
denoted by
f
.
In this section, we have dened angular velocity in a number of ways, discussed what it is
physically and derived expressions for derivatives of vectors in moving reference frames. What we
have not done is to come up with a general way to quantify angular velocity as a function of rotational
parameters. The quantication issue will be addressed in Chapter 9, within the context of rotations
of rigid bodies.
Figure 2.28: Spinning disk on a rotating elbow arm.
Example 2.10
Obtain the angular velocities of the double link in Fig. 2.29 that is supported by a rotating column.
Figure 2.29: a) Double link on a rotating column, b) reference frames for rst link.
The XY Z frame rotates with the column and the angular velocity of the column is K.
Attaching an xyz frame to the rst link, and noting that the link makes an angle of
1
with the
vertical, the angular velocity of the rst link becomes
1
= K+

1
I = K+

1
i [a]
where K = sin
1
j + cos
1
k, so that the angular velocity of the rst link becomes
1
=

1
i + sin
1
j + cos
1
k [b]
To obtain the angular velocity of the second link, observe that the angle
2
is also measured
from the vertical, so that its value is independent of the orientation of link 1. The angular velocity
of the second link is found similarly, by replacing the number 1 with 2 in Eq. [b], as well as the unit
vectors with their primed counterparts, with the result
2
= K+

2
I =

2
i
+ sin
2
j
+ cos
2
k
[c]
2.9 Angular Acceleration and Second Derivatives
This section extends the developments of the previous section and obtains expressions for angular
acceleration and for other second derivatives.
2.9.1 Angular Acceleration
An important application of the transport theorem is the calculation of the derivative of angular
velocity, known as angular acceleration. The angular acceleration of a coordinate frame, denoted by
, is dened as
=
d
dt
(2.9.1)
Note that the time derivative here is being taken in the inertial (non-moving) reference frame. We
need to make the distinction between the reference frame whose angular velocity is considered and the
coordinate axes used to express the angular velocity. Two scenarios are possible:
1. The angular velocity components of the moving frame are expressed in terms of the coordinates
of the moving frame. This is the most widely encountered case. The moving frame is attached
to the body, as shown in Fig. 2.30.
Figure 2.30: Reference frame attached to body.
Let us consider the moving xyz frame and express the angular velocity and angular acceleration
of the xyz frame as
=
x
i +
y
j +
z
k =
x
i +
y
j +
z
k (2.9.2)
2.9. ANGULAR ACCELERATION AND SECOND DERIVATIVES 83
Dierentiation of the angular velocity results in
=
x
i +
y
j +
z
k + =
x
i +
y
j +
z
k (2.9.3)
so that the components of the angular acceleration are time derivatives of the components of the
angular acceleration
x
=
x

y
=
y

z
=
z
(2.9.4)
Interestingly, we get the same result when the angular velocity is expressed in terms of the
coordinates of the inertial frame. Expressing as =
X
I +
Y
J +
Z
K, it follows that
X
=
X
,
Y
=
Y
,
Z
=
Z
.
2. The angular velocity components of the moving frame are not expressed in terms of the coordi-
nates of the moving frame. An example is shown in Fig. 2.28. This approach is used primarily
when dealing with rotating axisymmetric bodies and in other cases when it is convenient to do
so.
Here, we need to make a distinction between the angular velocities of the two reference frames.
As mentioned Sec. 2.8, the notation
f
denotes that angular velocity of the reference frame used
to express the vector that is dierentiated. The transport theorem for the angular acceleration
becomes
= =
rel
+
f
(2.9.5)
Note that in this case
i
=
i
(i = x, y, z). As an illustration, consider Fig. 2.28, which depicts
an elbow-shaped rod and a disk rotating with respect to the collar. The xyz frame is attached
to the elbow-shaped rod, whose angular velocity is
elbow
=

k = k. The disk rotates about
the x-axis and the angular velocity of the disk with respect to the collar is
disk/elbow
= i. The
angular velocity of the disk can then be written as
disk
=
elbow
+
disk/elbow
= k + i (2.9.6)
To obtain the angular acceleration, observe that the angular velocity of the reference frame
whose coordinates are used to express
disk
is the xyz frame, so that
f
=
elbow
= k and that
this reference frame is not attached to the disk. Dierentiating the angular velocity term gives
the angular acceleration as
disk
=
disk
=
elbow
+
disk/elbow
(2.9.7)
Evaluation of the rst term results in

elbow
=
elbow
rel
+
f

elbow
= k (2.9.8)
and the cross product term vanishes because
f
=
elbow
. The second term becomes

disk/elbow
=
disk/elbow
rel
+
f

disk/elbow
=

i +k (k + i) =

i +j (2.9.9)
so that the angular acceleration of the disk is
disk
=

i +j + k (2.9.10)
For the general case involving more than one reference frame, say A, C, F, B
A
B
=
A
C
+
C
F
+
F
B
(2.9.11)
the angular acceleration
A
B
is obtained by dierentiating each term individually, as shown below.
A
d
dt
A
C
=
A
C A
d
dt
C
F
=
C
F
+
A
F
A
d
dt
F
B
=
F
B
+
A
B
(2.9.12)
The above results are combined into
A
B
=
A
C
+
C
F
+
F
B
+
A
F
+
A
B
(2.9.13)
The transport theorem is the preferred approach for obtaining derivatives of angular velocity,
especially for complex problems of angular acceleration, and it is more adaptable to implementation
by digital computers.
2.9.2 Second Derivatives
Many times, it is necessary to take a second derivative or to take the derivative of an expression in one
reference frame that has been obtained by dierentiation in another frame. The transport theorem
is suitable to use in such cases. The following notation will be used when dealing with a second
derivative:
A
q =
A
d
dt
_
A
d
dt
q
_
B
q =
B
d
dt
_
B
d
dt
q
_
= q
rel
(2.9.14)
For a mixed derivative, application of the transport theorem gives
A
d
dt
_
B
d
dt
q
_
=
B
d
dt
_
B
d
dt
q
_
+
A
_
B
d
dt
q
_
= q
rel
+ q
rel
(2.9.15)
Note that when more than one derivative is taken in dierent reference frames, changing the order of
dierentiation gives dierent results. This applies to dierentiation with respect to time, as well as to
dierentiation with respect to other variables. Be aware that a vector may be a function of a certain
variable in one reference frame and not in another.
Let us next evaluate the second derivative of a vector q. Equation (2.8.17) gives the rst
derivative. Dierentiating it gives
A
q =
A
d
dt
_
B
d
dt
q
_
+
A
d
dt
_
A
B
_
q +
A
A
q (2.9.16)
Introducing Eq. (2.9.15) to the above equation and collecting terms
A
q =
A
B
q +
A
_
A
B
q
_
+ 2
A
B
q +
B
q (2.9.17)
2.9. ANGULAR ACCELERATION AND SECOND DERIVATIVES 85
or
q = q + ( q) + 2 q
rel
+ q
rel
(2.9.18)
A signicant application of the above two equations will be discussed in the next section.
We end this section with an important reminder. It is crucial that we be able to distinguish
between the reference frame in which a derivative is taken and the reference frame whose coordinates
are used to express a vector. Usually the two are the same; however, there are cases when they are
not, especially when dealing with axisymmetric bodies. When in doubt, we can use a straightforward,
but not as intuitive, way of calculating a derivative by dierentiating each term individually
q =
dq
dt
= q
x
i + q
y
j + q
z
k +q
x
i +q
y
j +q
z
k (2.9.19)
in which is the angular velocity of the xyz coordinates, that is, the coordinate system in which the
vector is expressed. The same concept also applies to second derivatives.
Example 2.11
Figure 2.31: a) Two rotations of a coordinate system XY Z, b) the second rotation viewed from a
dierent vantage point.
Consider the coordinate transformation of a system shown in Fig. 2.31a. Begin with an inertial
frame XY Z, rotate it by
1
about X to obtain the frame x
and rotate this frame by

2
about z
to obtain the xyz frame. The angular velocities associated with this rotation sequence are
1
=

1
I
2
=

2
k
[a]
and the angular velocity of the xyz frame is =
1
+
2
. Let us rst nd the angular acceleration by
using the multiple frame approach,
=
1
+
2
rel
+
f

2
[b]
in which
f
=
1
=

1
I denotes the angular velocity with which the x
frame is rotating. Evaluating

each term, and using the xyz coordinates to express , and noting from Fig. 2.31b that I = i
=
cos
2
i sin
2
j and k
= k, results in

1
=

1
I =

1
(cos
2
i sin
2
j)
2
rel
=

2
k
f

2
=

1
(cos
2
i sin
2
j)

2
k =

2
(sin
2
i cos
2
j) [c]
Introduction of Eq. [c] into Eq. [b] leads to
=
_
1
cos
2
2
sin
2
_
i
_
1
sin
2
+

2
cos
2
_
j +

2
k [d]
Alternatively, we can obtain the angular acceleration by writing the angular velocity in terms
of the xyz coordinates and dierentiate. Express as
=

1
(cos
2
i sin
2
j) +

2
k [e]
and the individual components of the angular velocity are
x
=

1
cos
2

y
=
1
sin
2

z
=

2
[f ]
The angular acceleration components are obtained by direct dierentiation of the angular velocity
components
x
=

1
cos
2
2
sin
2

y
=
1
sin
2
2
cos
2

z
=

2
[g]
which, of course, is the same result as Eq. [d].
For comparison purposes, let us obtain the angular acceleration in terms of the x
coordi-
nates. The angular velocities are
1
=

1
i
,
2
=

2
k
, =

1
i
2
k
,
f
=

1
i
. Using Eq. [b], the

angular acceleration terms are obtained as

1
=

1
i

2
rel
=

2
k

f

2
=

1
i
2
k
2
j
[h]
We can also use the complete expression for and dierentiate it to nd the angular acceler-
ation. Recall that the angular velocity of the xyz frame is now being expressed in terms of the x
coordinates, so that
=
rel
+
f
=

1
i
2
k
1
i
1
i
2
k
_
=

1
i
2
j
2
k
[i]
which is the same result as Eq. [h].
2.10 Relative Motion
This section develops expressions for relative velocity and relative acceleration. The transport theorem
is applied to relate the motions of two points in moving reference frames.
Consider a rigid body that is undergoing translation and rotation. We can analyze the motion
by attaching a moving reference frame xyz to the body. The angular velocity and angular acceleration
of the frame then become the angular velocity and acceleration of the body. Two points, B and P, lie
on the body (Fig. 2.32). Point B is xed on the body and point P may or may not move with respect
to the body (hence, relative to the reference frame). Also consider a nonmoving (inertial) coordinate
system XY Z.
2.10. RELATIVE MOTION 87
Figure 2.32: Two points on a body.
The angular velocity and angular acceleration of the body are denoted by and , respectively.
The positions of points B and P are related by
r
P
= r
B
+r
P/B
(2.10.1)
where r
B
and r
P
are measured from a xed reference point O and r
P/B
is the relative position vector.
This vector is similar to the vector q used in Eq. (2.8.5) and in Eq. (2.9.18). Although we can substitute
these equations directly into the relative velocity and relative acceleration expressions, it is instructive
to repeat the derivation in terms of r
P/B
. Dierentiation of Eq. (2.10.1) leads to the relative velocity
equation
v
P
= v
B
+v
P/B
(2.10.2)
The time derivative of the position vector r
B
, v
B
, is obtained by direct dierentiation of r
B
(or by measurement from the xed reference point). The time derivative of the relative position term
r
P/B
can be obtained by using the transport theorem, as the vector r
P/B
moves with respect to the
reference frame. Applying Eq. (2.8.17) yields
v
P/B
= r
P/B
= v
(P/B)
rel
+ r
P/B
(2.10.3)
The rst term on the right, v
(P/B)
rel
, is the velocity of an observer sitting (or a measuring
device located) on the body being observed. This term vanishes if point P is xed on the body. The
second term, r
P/B
, is the velocity of point P with respect to point B due to the rotation of the
reference frame. The relative velocity expression thus becomes
v
P
= v
B
+ r
P/B
+v
(P/B)
rel
(2.10.4)
The relative acceleration equation is obtained by dierentiating Eq. (2.10.4). Dierentiating
the rst term on the right side gives a
B
, as v
B
is measured from a xed point and so is its time
derivative. Dierentiation of the second term by means of the transport theorem results in
d
dt
_
r
P/B
_
= r
P/B
+
_
v
(P/B)
rel
+ r
P/B
_
(2.10.5)
and dierentiation of the third term gives
d
dt
_
v
(P/B)
rel
_
= a
(P/B)
rel
+ v
(P/B)
rel
(2.10.6)
Combining the above equations, we get
a
P
= a
B
+ r
P/B
+
_
r
P/B
_
+ 2 v
(P/B)
rel
+a
(P/B)
rel
(2.10.7)
The termr
P/B
is due to the angular acceleration of the rotating frame, while
_
r
P/B
_
is the centripetal acceleration. For the special case of plane motion, the centripetal acceleration takes
the form

_
r
P/B
_
=
2
r
P/B
(2.10.8)
The term 2 v
(P/B)
rel
is the Coriolis acceleration.
If point P does not move with respect to the body (that is, with respect to the moving frame),
then the velocity and acceleration of P observed from the body are zero, v
(P/B)
rel
= 0, a
(P/B)
rel
= 0
and the relative acceleration expression reduces to
a
P
= a
B
+ r
P/B
+
_
r
P/B
_
(2.10.9)
When solving relative velocity and relative acceleration problems on a plane, we can use a
scalar approach to add the vectors involved. In the scalar approach, we make use of velocity polygons
and express the relative velocity relationships as a sketch. When using a vector approach, we writes
the expressions for relative velocity as vectors and make use of vector summations. It is preferable
when using a vector approach to attach the moving frame to the body so that the vector calculations
will become simplied.
Example 2.12
Figure 2.33: a) Robotic arm on a rotating shaft, b) coordinate frames.
Consider the robotic arm in Fig. 2.33a mounted on a rotating shaft. The shaft is rotating with
a constant angular velocity of = 0.1 rad/s. The angle that the robotic arm makes with the shaft
2.10. RELATIVE MOTION 89
is varying according to the relationship = t/12 rad, with (t = 0) = 0. With a motion similar to
that of an automobile antenna, a second arm extends from the outer end of the arm according to the
relationship r (t) = 5t
2
cm.
Find the angular velocity and angular acceleration rod, as well as the acceleration of the tip
of the extending arm, at time t = 2 seconds.
This problem can be solved using a variety of approaches. In one approach, two relative frames
are used, one attached to the shaft (H frame) and rotating with , the other (B frame) attached to the
arm and rotating with

with respect to the shaft, as shown in Fig. 2.33b. In the second approach, we
deal with a single relative frame attached to the robotic arm. For this problem, it is more convenient
to use the single frame approach. The following information is available:
= 0.1 rad/s,

= 0, (2) = /6 rad,

(2) = /12 rad/s,

= 0
r (2) = 20 cm, r (2) = 20 cm/s, r (2) = 10 cm/s
2
[a]
As the geometry and positions of the linkages are known, the velocity analysis can be conducted.
The pin joint to which the arm is connected is denoted by O. The angular velocities of the reference
frames are
A
H
= h
3
= 0.1h
3
rad/s
H
B
=

h
1
= /12h
1
rad/s [b]
where h
3
= cos b
2
+ sinb
3
=
3/2b
2
0.5b
3
. The angular velocity of the arm is obtained by
adding the individual angular velocities and has the form
A
B
=
A
H
+
H
B
= 0.1h
3
+/12b
1
= /12b
1
0.05
3b
2
+ 0.05b
3
rad/s [c]
The relative velocity expression between point O and P is
A
v
P
=
A
v
O
+
A
B
r
P/O
+
B
v
P
[d]
in which
A
v
O
= 0 and
r
P/O
= =
_
OB +r (2)
_
b
2
= 80b
2
cm
B
v
P
= r (2) b
2
= 20b
2
cm/s [e]
Carrying out the cross product in Eq. [d] gives
A
B
r
P/O
=
_
/12b
1
0.05
3b
2
+ 0.05b
3
_
80b
2
= 4b
1
+ 20/3b
3
cm/s [f ]
Adding Eqs. [d] and [e] gives the velocity as
A
v
P
= 4b
1
+ 20b
2
+ 20/3b
3
[g]
Next, consider the acceleration and write
A
a
P
=
A
a
O
+
A
B
r
P/O
+
A
B
r
P/O
+ 2
A
B
v
P/O
+
B
a
P/O
[h]
where
A
a
O
= 0 and
B
a
P/O
= 10b
2
. The angular acceleration is obtained by applying the transport
theorem to the angular velocity
A
B
=
A
H
+
H
B
+
A
B
= 0 +

h
1
+ 0.1h
3
/12b
1
=
_
0.05
3b
2
+ 0.05b
3
_
/12b
1
= /240b
2
+
3/240b
3
[i]
The individual terms are evaluated next and they result in
A
B
r
P/O
=
_
/240b
2
+
3/240b
3
_
80b
2
=
3/80b
1
A
B
r
P/O
=

3
b
1
+
_
0.2
5
2
9
_
b
2
0.2
3b
3
2
A
B
v
P/O
= 2
_
/12b
1
0.05
3b
2
+ 0.05b
3
_
20b
2
= 2b
1
10/3b
3
cm/s
2
[j]
Adding the respective terms, the acceleration is obtained as
A
a
P
=
3/80b
1
3
b
1
+
_
0.2
5
2
9
_
b
2
0.2
3b
3
2b
1
10/3b
3
+ 10b
2
[k]
which can be further simplied.
2.11 Instantaneous Center of Zero Velocity
An important property of rigid bodies undergoing plane motion is that of an instant center. The
instant center is a powerful visual tool that gives valuable insight regarding the nature of the motion.
It can be used as an analysis as well as a design tool.
At any instant of motion, there exists an axis perpendicular to the plane of motion, called the
instantaneous axis of zero velocity, such that the body can be viewed as rotating about that axis at
that instant. The intersection of this axis and the plane of motion is called the instantaneous center
of zero velocity, or instant center. This section studies the concept of instant center for a single body.
In general, the instant center of a body is located by visual inspection. To establish the location
of the instant center, we need to know the velocities of two points on the body. If the velocities are not
in the same direction, we draw two lines, beginning at the points at which the velocities are known and
perpendicular to the velocities. Their intersection is the instant center. This is the most commonly
encountered case.
If the velocities of the two points are in the same direction, we again draw two lines: one joining
the points at which the velocities are known and the other joining the tips of the velocity vectors drawn
to scale. Their intersection is the instant center. Figure 2.34 shows the two most common ways of
locating an instant center.
While the instant center has zero velocity, its location at every time instant is dierent, and
its acceleration is not zero. Hence, the value of instant center analysis diminishes for kinetic analysis.
2.11. INSTANTANEOUS CENTER OF ZERO VELOCITY 91
Figure 2.34: Locating instant centers.
For example, as demonstrated in Chapter 4, the moment balance equation about a xed point, cannot
be written about an instant center.
3
The denition of instant center here is for a single body. Section 3.9 extends the concept of
instant centers to linkages and mechanisms. This expanded denition is widely used for mechanism
and suspension system analysis.
Example 2.13
Figure 2.35: a) Sliding rod, b) geometry and instant center.
A rod of length L is sliding against two surfaces that are not perpendicular to each other, as
shown in Fig. 2.35a. At the instant shown, the rod makes an angle of 45
with the horizontal. Also,

point B is moving to the right with speed v
B
. Find the instantaneous center of zero velocity and use
it to calculate the velocity of point A.
Since points A and B are sliding on the surfaces they are in contact with, the instant center
3
In Chapter 15, while studying vehicle suspension systems, sometimes one can make the assumption that the instant
center remains stationary for a very short time period.
can be found by drawing perpendicular lines to the surfaces, as shown in Fig. 2.35b. The coordinates
of the instant center can be found by geometry. The following relationships hold:
BD = AD = Lcos 45
2
2
L AD = AC cos 30
3
2
AC [a]
from which we conclude that
AC =
_
2
3
L CD = AC sin30
=
_
1
6
L [b]
so that
BC = BD +CD = 1.1154L [c]
The angular velocity of the rod is found from
=
v
B
BC
=
v
B
1.1154L
[d]
and the velocity of A becomes
v
A
= AC =
v
B
1.1154L
_
2
3
L = 0.73202v
B
[e]
2.12 References
Baruh, H., Analytical Dynamics, McGraw-Hill, 1999.
Das, B.M., Kassimali, A., and Sami, S., Mechanics for Engineers: Dynamics, J. Ross, 2010.
Meriam, J.L., and Kraige, L.G., Engineering Mechanics: Dynamics, 7th Edition, Wiley, 2012.
Beer, F.P., Johnston, E.R., Cornwell, P., Vector Mechanics for Engineers: Dynamics, 10th Edition,
McGraw-Hill, 2012.
2.13 Problems
Problems are marked by E - easy, M - moderate, and D - dicult. Computer oriented problems are
marked by C.
Section 2.3 - Reference Frames: Single Rotation in a Plane
2.1 (E) The coordinates of a point viewed in the XY plane is r = 3I 6J. By what angle does
this coordinate system needs to be rotated (about the Z axis) into an xy coordinate system, so that
the vector r will have the form r = 3ai + aj? Also nd the unit vector perpendicular to the plane of
motion.
2.13. PROBLEMS 93
2.2 (M) The vectors r = 3i + 4j and q = 6I 2J are dened in the xy and XY coordinate systems,
respectively. If xy is obtained by rotating XY by an angle of 45
cw, nd the angle between r and q.

Section 2.4 - Column Vector Representation
2.3 (M) Given the vectors r = 3i + 4j 5k and s = 2J K, where the xyz coordinate frame is
obtained by rotating XY Z by 30
clockwise about the Z axis, obtain the cross product r q using

column vector rotation and express the nal result using the xyz coordinates.
2.4 (M) Given the function S = 3q
2
1
+5q
2
2
8q
2
3
+4q
1
q
2
12q
1
q
3
, calculate dS/d{q} and the [D] matrix.
2.5 (M) We know that a vector crossed into itself gives the zero matrix, rr = 0. Yet when considering
the column vector representation of r, which is [ r], and taking the matrix product [ r][ r], the result is
not zero. Why?
Section 2.5 - Commonly Used Coordinate Systems
2.6 (E) An object moving along a straight line has an acceleration of a = v = x = 1 + 3x, where x
denotes position. If motion begins with initial conditions x
0
= 2.5, v
0
= 0.3, calculate the velocity
when x
f
= 5.
Figure 2.36: Figures for a) Problem 2.7, b) Problem 2.8.
2.7 (M) The projectile in Fig. 2.36a is red at the top of a hill of 300 ft with a speed of v
0
= 112 ft/sec
and making an angle of = 30
with the horizontal. Calculate the amount of time the projectile stays
in the air and the horizontal distance travelled by the projectile.
2.8 (C) A racquetball player hits the ball from a distance of 35 ft from the front wall and from a height
of 3 ft from the oor. The goal of the player is to select the velocity v
0
and launch angle such that
the ball will hit the wall at a height less than 12 inches and speed less than 50 ft/sec. Create a plot
of v
0
vs. and identify the ranges of these parameters so that the ball will hit the wall at the desired
height. Neglect air resistance.
2.9 (E) A projectile is launched with speed v
0
= 10 m/s and angle = 30
. Calculate the radius of

curvature of the path when the projectile reaches its highest position.
2.10 (M) The velocity and acceleration of a particle in the xyz coordinate system are v = 3i +4j 6k
ft/sec and a = 2i +3k ft/sec
2
. Using normal-tangential coordinates, calculate the change in speed v
and radius of curvature . Also, calculate the unit vector u that is orthogonal to the plane of motion.
Figure 2.37: Figures for a) Problems 2.11 and 2.16, b) Problem 2.12.
2.11 (M) The airplane in Fig. 2.37a is observed in by means of cylindrical coordinates. The plane is
ying with constant velocity of v = 350I + 25K ft/sec. At the instant considered, the plane is at an
altitude of 3,000 ft and horizontal distance of 6,000 ft from the radar. Calculate r, r, r,

,

at this
instant. Note that at this instant the Y axis is the radial direction r
2.12 (M) The vehicle in Fig. 2.37b is moving up with constant speed up a spiraled road of constant
radius R. In ve full turns, the vehicle reaches height h. Express the position, velocity and acceleration
of the vehicle in terms of polar coordinates and obtain the relationships between the unit vectors in
polar coordinates and normal-tangential coordinates. What is the radius of curvature of the path the
vehicle follows?
Figure 2.38: Figure Problem 2.13.
2.13 (M) Pin A in Fig. 2.38 is moving up with constant speed of 2 m/s. Calculate the angular velocity
and angular acceleration of the rod OB when = 60
.
2.14 (E) The position of a vehicle is described by the vector r = 3I 4J + 8K. Express r in terms of
spherical coordinates.
2.15 (M) Consider Fig. 2.15. A vehicle P is moving according to the relationship (t) = t/100 rad,
point P
on the x axis is 55 ft away from O and the distance from P
to P varies according to the

relationship z = 12 6 sin(t/12) ft. Express r and its time derivative, v in the spherical coordinate
system.
2.13. PROBLEMS 95
2.16 (M) The airplane in Fig. 2.37a is tracked by radar by means of spherical coordinates. The plane
is ying with constant velocity of v = 350I + 25K ft/sec. At the instant considered, the plane is at
an altitude of 3,000 ft and horizontal distance of 6,000 ft from the radar. Calculate the polar and
azimuthal angles and their derivatives at this instant.
Sections 2.6 - 2.7 - Moving Reference Frames
2.17 (M) A coordinate system XY Z is rst rotated about the Y axis by 30
, resulting in the X
axes. Then, X
is rotated about the Z
axis by 67
to yield the xyz coordinates. Find the

coordinates of the vector r = 6I + 3K in terms of the xyz coordinates.
2.18 (M) A coordinate system xyz is obtained by taking an XY Z coordinate system, and by rst
rotating it about the Y axis by an angle of 15
ccw to get the X
coordinates and then by rotating

the X
coordinate system by an angle of 30
about the X
axis to get the xyz coordinates. Find

the resulting rotation matrix and the coordinates in the XY Z system of a point whose position in the
xyz coordinates is r = 2i 3k.
2.19 (C) A coordinate system xyz is obtained by taking an XY Z coordinate system, and by rst
rotating it about the Z axis by an angle of to get the X
coordinates. Then, the X
coordinates system is rotated by an angle of about the X
axis to get the X
coordinates.
The nal rotation is about the Z
axis by . Find the resulting rotation matrix [R]. Evaluate [R]

for = 30
, = 45
and = 60
. Then nd the coordinates in the XY Z system of a point whose

position in the xyz coordinates is r = 5i + 3j.
Figure 2.39: Figures for Problems 2.20 - 2.22.
2.20 (D) Consider the box in Fig. 2.39a. Denote the initial frame by XY Z. First rotate the box about
OA (X axis) by 30
. The resulting X
axes are then rotated by 10
about the Y
axis, yielding
the X
axes. Finally, the X
axes are rotated by 18
about the Z
axis to yield the xyz

coordinates. Calculate the rotation matrix that relates the xyz to XY Z and the coordinates of point
D in the initial XY Z frame after these rotations.
2.21 (M) The rectangular box in Fig. 2.39a is rotated counterclockwise by an angle of 30
about the
axis passing through points O and D. Find the coordinates of point A after this rotation in terms
of the XY Z coordinates. Solve this problem using both a body xed rotation sequence, as well as
Eq. (2.7.15).
2.22 (D) The rectangular box in Fig. 2.39b is rotated counterclockwise by an angle of 30
about the
axis passing through points O and B. Find the coordinates of point A after this rotation in terms
of the XY Z coordinates. Solve this problem using both a body xed rotation sequence, as well as
Eq. (2.7.15).
2.23 (M) Consider the double-link robot mounted on a rotating base in Fig. 2.40a with the angles
1
and
2
measured from the vertical. Find the position of the tip of the robot arm in terms of inertial
coordinates when = 30
,
1
= 60
and
2
= 15
. The XY Z coordinates are inertial. Solve this

problem by using column vector notation.
Section 2.8 - Rate of Change of a Vector, Angular Velocity
2.24 (M) Consider problem 2.23. Here, you are given that the angular velocity of the base is

= 0.2
rad/s and the angular velocities of the arms are

1
= 0.3 rad/s and

2
= 0.32 rad/s. Calculate the
angular velocity of each arm and express it in terms of the xyz coordinates.
2.25 (E) A disk of radius R shown in Fig. 2.40b spins at the rate of

about an axle held by a fork-ended
horizontal rod that rotates itself at the rate of

. Find the angular velocity of the disk.
Figure 2.41: Figure for Problem 2.26.
2.26 (D) The robot arm in Fig. 2.41a makes an angle of 40
with the rotating shaft. The arm rotates

2.13. PROBLEMS 97
about the y
axis with the relationship (t) =

20
cos 2t rad, as shown in Figs. 2.41b, and c. The shaft
has an angular velocity of
1
= 0.5 rad/s. At the tip of the arm B, there is another rod. A disk spins
counterclockwise with
3
= 7 rad/s about this rod. Find the total angular velocity of the disk at t = 3
s.
Section 2.9 - Angular Acceleration and Second Derivatives
2.27 (M) Consider problem 2.23. Here, you are given that the angular velocity of the base is

= 0.2
rad/s and

= 0.12 rad/s
2
. The angular velocities of the arms are

1
= 0.3 rad/s and

2
= 0.32
rad/s, both angular velocities being constant. Calculate the angular acceleration of each arm.
2.28 (M) A disk of radius R shown in Fig. 2.40b spins at the rate of

about an axle held by a
fork-ended horizontal rod that rotates itself at the rate of

. Find the angular acceleration of the disk.
Figure 2.42: Figure for Problem 2.29. a) Airplane, b) rear view
2.29 (M) The airplane in Fig. 2.42a is moving with speed of 600 mph in a curved trajectory = 2500 ft.
Figure 2.42b shows the rear view of the airplane. At the same time, the airplane is pitching upwards
a the constant rate of
y
= 0.1 rad/s. The propeller is spinning with the constant counterclockwise
angular velocity of
x
= 4000 rpm. Find the angular acceleration of the propeller.
2.30 (D) Consider problem 2.26 and calculate the angular acceleration of the disk at t = 3.6 sec, given
that
1
and
3
are both constant.
2.31 (E) The American football in Fig. 2.43a is spinning about its axis of symmetry (say z) at the
constant rate of 88 r.p.m. while the axis of symmetry rotates about a horizontal axis (say y) at a rate
of 10 r.p.m. which decreases at the rate of -1.2 r.p.m./sec. Calculate the angular acceleration in vector
form and the magnitude of the angular acceleration.
Section 2.10 - Relative Motion
2.32 (M) When
1
=
2
= 60
in Fig. 2.43, then length of OC = 2.5.
and the angle between AB and

BC becomes 36.87
. For this conguration, given that

AB
= 4 rad/sec ccw and the velocity of the
slider is 9 in/sec upwards, calculate the angular velocities
OC
and
BC
.
2.33 (E) For the problem above, calculate the angular accelerations if given that
AB
= 0 and the
Figure 2.43: Figures for a) Problem 2.31, b) Problems 2.32 and 2.14.
velocity of the slider is constant.
2.34 (M) A bead of mass m is free to slide on a hoop of radius R, as shown in Fig. 2.44a. The
hoop rotates with a constant angular velocity about the vertical axis. Find the acceleration of the
bead using a) A reference frame H attached to the hoop, with h
3
in the vertical direction and h
1
perpendicular to the hoop, and b) A reference frame B attached to the bead, with b
1
b
2
b
3
obtained by
rotating h
1
h
2
h
3
about the h
1
axis by .
2.35 (M) The pendulum of xed length L in Fig. 8.37 swings on the inclined plane xy. The incline
angle of the plane (between X and x axes) is being raised at the constant rate of . The pivot point
of the pendulum is at a distance of 1.1L from the y axis. Find the velocity and acceleration of the
pendulum.
2.36 (E) A spring pendulum is attached to a rotating shaft by an arm of length d = 0.8 m, as shown
in Fig. 2.44b. At the instant shown, the shaft is rotating with angular velocity = 0.4 rad/s, = 30
= 0.3 rad/s. The length of the pendulum is L = 1.3 m and it is getting shorter at the rate of 0.1
m/s. Find the velocity of the tip of the pendulum.
2.13. PROBLEMS 99
2.37 (E) Consider the previous problem and nd the acceleration of the tip of the pendulum if =
constant,

= 0.2 rad/s,

L = 0.1 m/s
2
.
2.38 (M) The platform in Fig. 2.45 is rotating with a constant angular velocity of = 0.2 rad/s.
Pivoting on the platform is a tube oscillating according to the relationship (t) =

6
sin2t rad. A
particle slides inside the tube. Find the velocity and acceleration of the particle at t = seconds, at
which point it is given that y = 40 cm, y = 30 cm/s and y = 4 cm/s
2
.
2.39 (M) A disk of radius R shown in Fig. 2.40b spins at the constant rate of

about an axle held
by a fork-ended horizontal rod that rotates itself at the non-constant rate of

. An ant is crawling
towards the center of the disk with constant speed v with respect to the disk. Find the acceleration
of the ant as a function of and when the ant is at the edge of the disk, at point P.
Section 2.11 - Instantaneous Center of Zero Velocity
2.40 (M) Consider the rod in Fig. 2.46a and calculate its instant center. Given that rod OA has a
clockwise angular velocity of 0.6 rad/s, calculate the angular velocity of rod AB and the velocity of
point B.
2.41 (D) Calculate the location and coordinates of the instant center of the rod BP in Fig. 2.47 when
1
= 30
. The incline is at an angle of = 45
with the horizontal.

Figure 2.47: Figure for Problems 2.41 and 2.17.
Chapter 3
Kinematics Applications
3.1 Introduction
The chapter extends the kinematics formulations of the previous chapter to applications that are of
interest to practicing engineers and scientists. The chapter begins with a special application of the
relative motion equations; motion with respect to the rotating Earth. The concept of contact between
two bodies is discussed, together with the constraints contact creates. A most important application
of contact between two bodies is rolling.
Ground vehicles move through the rolling of their wheels and this chapter introduces a simple
kinematic model of a ground vehicles, known as bicycle model. Kinematic dierential equations,
which are used in analysis and in simulation, are developed. The chapter ends with an introduction
to mechanisms.
3.2 Motion with Respect to the Rotating Earth
As discussed earlier, we use moving reference frames and relative motion equations to facilitate the
analysis of motion. An interesting example of this is motion with respect to the rotating Earth.
Motion over short distances or with small velocities and involving short time periods can be analyzed
relatively accurately without considering the rotation of the Earth. There are certain phenomena,
however, that necessitate the inclusion of the rotation of the Earth in the formulation. Specically,
any motion that takes place over large periods of time (days, weeks, ...), such as hurricane formation,
cannot be modeled accurately without considering the rotation of the Earth.
Consider a point B on the surface of the Earth, as shown in Fig. 3.1a, and attach a moving
frame to the Earth, using an xyz coordinate system. The z direction is vertical, the x direction is
toward the north and the y direction is toward the west. The Earth is rotating about its own axis
with constant angular velocity . It takes about 365.25 days to orbit the sun, and the Earth rotates
about its own axis at the rate of one revolution per day. Both rotations are counterclockwise, which
101
102 CHAPTER 3. KINEMATICS APPLICATIONS
Figure 3.1: Earth coordinate system: a) general orientation, b) side view.
leads to an angular velocity of
=
_
2
24(60)(60)
__
1 +
1
365.25
_
= 7.2921 10
5
rad/s (3.2.1)
so that, considering Fig. 3.1b, we can describe the angular velocity of the Earth in vector form as
= (cos i + sink) (3.2.2)
where is the latitude. The angular acceleration of the Earth, which is an extremely small quantity,
is ignored so that = 0. Also ignored are: i) the rotation axis of the Earth, which is not xed and
exhibits a small wobbling motion, and ii) the inclination angle between the equatorial plane (the plane
of the equator) and the ecliptic plane (the plane generated by the orbit of the earth around the sun).
Using these assumptions, the acceleration of a point, say B, on the surface of the Earth becomes
a
B
= r
B
(3.2.3)
Consider now an o-planet point P and denote its position by r = r
P/B
= xi +yj +zk. The velocity
and acceleration of point P, viewed from the surface of the Earth, are v
rel
= xi + yj + zk and
a
rel
= xi + yj + zk, respectively. The acceleration of this point can be written as
a = a
B
+ r + 2 v
rel
+a
rel
(3.2.4)
Since the magnitude of r is much smaller than the radius of the Earth, r
B
, the term r can be
ignored, as it is much smaller than a
B
= r
B
. The relative acceleration equation thus becomes
a = a
B
+ 2 v
rel
+a
rel
(3.2.5)
Let us examine the terms on the right side of the above equation. Writing the position vector
r
B
as r
B
= r
e
k, the acceleration of B becomes
a
B
= r
B
=
2
r
e
_
sincos i cos
2
k
_
(3.2.6)
Using an average radius for the Earth as 6761 km,
2
r
e
= 3.33 cm/s
2
, which represents the centrifugal
acceleration of point B. In most problems involving the rotation of the Earth, the term sincos i
3.2. MOTION WITH RESPECT TO THE ROTATING EARTH 103
is ignored, because the other velocities and accelerations involved in the x and y directions are much
higher. The component of a
B
in the z-direction is usually treated as contributing to the acceleration
of gravity.
The term 2 v
rel
is the Coriolis acceleration. While the magnitude of this term is small, its
direction is always perpendicular to the relative velocity v
rel
. Hence, this acceleration has the eect
of changing direction. The dynamics associated with motion with respect to the rotating Earth will
be analyzed in Chapter 5.
Example 3.1
Consider a baseball game in Yankee Stadium (latitude 40.827
) where the batter hits the ball with a

speed of 120 mph at an angle of of 38
with the horizontal. Calculate the Coriolis acceleration of the

ball and the deection of the ball due to the Coriolis acceleration, knowing that the ball travels in the
west-east direction (straight down the middle of the ball park).
Recalling that 60 mph is equivalent to 88 ft/sec, and using the Earth-based coordinates in
Fig. 3.1a, the velocity of the ball, immediately after it is hit by the batter, is
v
rel
= 176 (cos 38
j + sin38
k) = 138.7j + 108.4k ft/sec [a]

The angular velocity vector is
= (cos 40.827
i + sin40.827
k) = 7.2921 10
5
(0.7566i + 0.6538k) rad/sec [b]
The Coriolis acceleration is
a
Cor
= 2 v
rel
= 2 7.2921 10
5
(0.7566i + 0.6538k) (138.7j + 108.4k)
= (1.322i 1.196j 1.530k) 10
2
ft/sec
2
[c]
The Coriolis acceleration is indeed very small, despite the high speed of the ball. However, while
the ball does not have a velocity component in the x direction when it leaves the bat, the Coriolis
acceleration does have a component in the x direction, which causes the ball to change direction in
the xy plane.
Assume the ball spends six seconds in the air, and also assume that the Coriolis acceleration
remains constant during that time. The deection in the x direction can then be approximated as
x 0.5a
x
t
2
=
1
2

1.3
100
6
2
= 0.23 ft [d]
While this deection is not small, it is negligible when compared to the 440 ft that the ball travels
in the y direction, the change in direction caused by the spin of the ball, as well as wind. As will be
shown in the next chapter, the Coriolis deection is opposite in direction to the Coriolis acceleration.
3.3 Contact
Dynamical systems are comprised of components that come into and out of contact with each other.
The contacting components can translate or rotate (or both) with respect to each other. Contact may
take place in many forms:
Joints. A joint holds two points on two (or more) bodies together and permits relative motion of
the joined bodies in certain specic directions. For example, a pin joint, such as the ones shown
in the section on mechanisms, permits the two bodies it joins to have a rotation with respect
to each other about a direction perpendicular to the pin axis, while preventing relative motion
(translation or rotation) in any other direction. Such joints and the kinematic relationships they
lead to are discussed later on in this chapter.
Impact. The contacting bodies are initially separate. They come into contact at a point (or
along a line or on a plane) for a very short period of time and then separate from each other.
Examples include the bouncing of a ball and collisions of objects.
Rolling and Sliding. Here, the bodies in contact move with respect to each other in a way that
two dierent points on each of the two bodies are in contact with each other continuously. The
rolling of a disk on a plane or the sliding of a body over another body are two typical examples.
Figure 3.2: Contact of two bodies: common tangent and common normal.
A typical conguration of two bodies in contact with each other is shown in Fig. 3.2. The contacting
points on the two bodies 1 and 2 are referred to as C
1
and C
2
, respectively. Contact between two
bodies is characterized by a common tangent and a common normal.
Consider rst the case when the contours of the contacting bodies at the contact point are
smooth (continuous, with continuous derivatives, hence no corners). The common normal connects
the contact point and the centers of curvature of the contacting bodies (points O
1
and O
2
in Fig. 3.2).
The plane tangent to the contour of each body at the contact point is dened as the plane of contact
3.4. ROLLING 105
or contact plane. The contact plane is perpendicular to the common normal and the line of contact
lies on this plane.
When a sharp edged body comes in contact with a body that has a smooth contour, the tangent
to the smooth-contoured body denes the common tangent. The common normal goes through the
contact point and the center of curvature of the body with the smooth contour. When two sharp
edges come into contact, one has to make a reasonable assumption regarding the common normal and
common tangent.
3.4 Rolling
Rolling is a special case of contact between two bodies, where a continuous sequence of points on one
of the bodies is in continuous contact with a continuous sequence of points on the other body. For
rolling to take place, the contacting bodies must have smooth contours and the radius of curvature for
both bodies must exist at each contact point on both bodies. This section discusses rolling of a body
in plane motion. Three-dimensional rolling will be discussed in Chapter 9.
3.4.1 General Formulation
Figure 3.3: Dierent types of rolling: a) over a at surface, b) over a curved surface.
Rolling can occur in a variety of ways; two are depicted in Fig. 3.3. The most common is for a
body to roll over a xed surface, such as the rolling of a disk over a plane. As discussed in the previous
section, the contacting bodies dene the common tangent plane (or line) and the common normal.
Two bodies in contact that do not have a common normal cannot roll over one other. Consider Fig. 3.2
and that the two bodies are rolling with respect to each other. Because there is continuous contact,
the contact points cannot move with respect to each other in the normal direction. This constraint
can be expressed as
(v
C
1
v
C
2
) n = 0 (3.4.1)
in which n is the unit vector along the common normal. Note that n is also a unit vector along the
common normal as, unlike the case of normal-tangential coordinates, the common normal does not
have a dened positive direction.
A special case of rolling that is of interest, especially in the case of disks and wheels, is that of
rolling without slipping. Here, the contacting points on the two bodies have the same velocity, that
is, they do not move with respect to each other. Roll without slip is characterized by the relationship
v
C
1
= v
C
2
(3.4.2)
and for the case where one of the bodies is xed, as in the rolling of a disk over a xed surface, the
velocity of the contact point becomes zero. For roll without slip over a xed surface, the contact point
becomes an instant center so that v
C
1
= 0.
Consider, for example, Fig. 3.3a, which is representative of a train wheel. When the wheel
is rolling without slipping, point C is an instant center and the velocity of the center of the wheel
becomes
v
G
= RI (3.4.3)
Note that the point of contact C has zero velocity. The bottom point of the wheel, D, does not have
zero velocity.
What causes roll without slip is the friction between the contacting points. The eects of the
friction force on rolling will be discussed in Chapter 5.
Example 3.2
Figure 3.4: Rolling sphere.
A sphere (or disk) of radius r rolls without slip inside a circular surface with radius R, as
shown in Fig. 3.4. Calculate the angular acceleration of the sphere at t = 2, given that the angle
varies according to the relationship = 0.3 sin4t.
Instant centers relate the angular velocity of the disk to

. While point C is the instant center
for the sphere, the center of the sphere G can also be viewed as rotating about O. The velocity of G
can be written for the two instant centers of rotation as
v
G
= r = (R r)

= 1.2 (R r) cos 4t [a]
Dierentiating the above equation gives
=
R r
r
= 4.8
R r
r
sin4t [b]
3.4. ROLLING 107
The value at t = 2 becomes
(2) = 4.8
R r
r
sin8 = 4.7489
R r
r
[c]
3.4.2 Rolling Constraints, Wheel on an Axle
Chapter 1 discussed the concept of degrees of freedom and constraints. The rolling without slipping of
a disk in essence creates three constraints: contact between the rolling body and the body it is rolling
over, prevention of relative motion along the common normal, and prevention of spinning and sliding
on the plane on which the disk rolls.
Consider the rolling disk in Fig. 3.5a. The XY Z coordinates are xed and the xyz coordinates
move with the disk. The xz plane denotes the plane of the disk. The xy plane, which is the same as
the XY plane, is the plane in which the contact point of the disk travels. The disk is always upright.
1
The Z direction is the vertical, and the x axis is obtained by rotating the disk about the Z axis of the
inertial XY Z coordinate system by the heading angle , as shown in Fig. 3.5b. Hence, the Z and z
axes coincide.
The angular velocity of the disk is
= j +

k (3.4.4)
where is the spin rate and

is the change in the heading angle.
When the disk slips, the contact point C will have a nonzero velocity in the XY (xy) plane.
Slip in the x direction is called spin slip and is due to excessive spin of the disk, as when a driver
oors the accelerator when the vehicle is at rest. In the presence of spin slip, v
G
i = R.
Slip in the y direction is called slide slip or sliding. The no slip constraints are enforced by
means of friction between the disk and the surface on which it travels.
Writing the velocity of the contact point C as v
C
= v
Cx
i + v
Cy
j, the velocity of the center of
mass becomes
v
G
= v
C
+ r
G/C
= v
Cx
i +v
Cy
j + r
G/C
= v
Cx
i +v
Cy
j +
_
j +

k
_
Rk = (v
Cx
+R) i +v
Cy
j (3.4.5)
When there is no spin slip v
Cx
= 0 and when there is no slide slip v
Cy
= 0. The no sliding
condition and continuous contact condition, v
C
= 0, leads to the relation v
G
= Ri. It follows that
we can write the following constraint relations for the velocity of the rotation center G
v
G
j = 0 v
G
k = 0 (3.4.6)
1
In essence, we do not consider nutation or lean of the disk. We will discuss three-dimensional rolling in Chapter 9.
Figure 3.5: Slip conditions on a wheel: a) side view, b) top view.
The rst constraint above, v
G
j = 0, is a special type of constraint, known as a nonholonomic
constraint. Such a constraint can only be expressed in velocity form and it cannot be integrated to a
constraint in terms of displacement variables. To understand this better, let us express the velocity of
the center of the disk in terms of the inertial coordinate system XY . The position vector, in terms of
the xed coordinates XY Z, is r
G
= X
G
I +Y
G
J. Dierentiating this relationship gives
v
G
=

X
G
I +

Y
G
J =

X
G
(cos i sinj) +

Y
G
(sini + cos j)
=
_

X
G
cos +

Y
G
sin
_
i +
_
Y
G
cos

X
G
sin
_
j (3.4.7)
Imposition of the constraint v
G
j = 0 leads to the constraint equation
Y
G
cos

X
G
sin = 0 (3.4.8)
The above relationship cannot be integrated to one in terms of X
G
, Y
G
, and . Thus, the
constraint relationship only aects the velocity variables but not the displacement variables. Such a
constraint is called nonholonomic. Thus, while three variables are needed to describe the position and
orientation of the disk, the derivatives of these variables are related to each other by the constraint
equation. It follows that we can describe the velocity of the center of the disk by two independent
velocity variables. Such variables are known as generalized speeds or quasi-velocities. For the disk at
hand, it is convenient to select the speed of the wheel center, v
G
, and

as the velocity variables.
Attaching a disk (or wheels) to a rod (or axle) and imposition of the two no-slipping conditions
(no slide slip and no spin slip) converts the wheel on an axle assembly into a vehicle. The invention
of the wheel on an axle, estimated to have taken place about 6000 years ago, changed world history,
making it easier to transport payloads and people.
Consider now an axle with two wheels attached to it, such as the rear axle of a vehicle, as
shown in Fig. 3.6. Assume that both wheels roll without slipping or sliding. The centers of both
wheels, points F and D, have velocities only in the x direction. Noting that the angular velocity of
the axle is

k, we can use relative velocity equations to show that the velocity of any point on the
3.4. ROLLING 109
Figure 3.6: Wheels on an axle.
axle is in the x direction. The velocity v
A
(v
A
= v
A
i) and rate of change of the heading angle

are
suitable to describe the velocity of any point on the axle. The angular velocity of the axle is

k and,
dening the distance between the two disks as t and calling it track, the velocities of the centers of
the wheels become
v
F
= v
A
+

k (t/2) j =
_
v
A

t/2
_
i
v
D
= v
A
+

k (t/2) j =
_
v
A
+

t/2
_
i (3.4.9)
and, assuming that the wheels are rolling without slip, the spin rate of each wheel is
L
=
_
v
A

t/2
_
R

R
=
_
v
A
+

t/2
_
R
(3.4.10)
where L and R denote left and right, respectively, indicating the well-known fact that the two wheels
have dierent angular velocities when a vehicle turns. This was noticed early on in the automotive
industry and led to the development of dierentials for use in axles connected to powered wheels.
Example 3.3 - Importance of Wheel Alignment
The discussion above is a reminder of the importance of wheel alignment. The axle in Sec. 3.4.2 moves
because the wheels are parallel to each other. This can be demonstrated by an instant center analysis.
Consider rst a properly aligned wheel and axle system, whose top view is shown in Fig. 3.7a.
The instant center IC is located by rst drawing the velocities of the wheels to scale and then con-
necting the tips of the velocity vectors. The instant center is the intersection of the line joining the
tips of the velocities with the line going through the axle.
Next, consider the case where the wheels are not in alignment, shown in Fig. 3.7b. Without
loss of generality, we assume that wheel D is in alignment and wheel F is not. Because the two wheel
Figure 3.7: Top view of axle: a) aligned wheels, b) unaligned wheels.
velocities are no longer in the same direction, the instant center is located by drawing perpendicular
lines to the two velocities and nd where they intersect. In this case, the instant center turns out to
be at point F.
The instant center has zero velocity. But wait, point F is supposed to be moving and hence
should have a nonzero velocity. It follows that a system of unaligned wheels cannot exist when both
wheels are turning and the no-sliding condition is enforced. If friction is sucient to enforce the
no-sliding condition and the wheels are not aligned, the left wheel wont turn and the axle will rotate
about point F.
In reality, the friction forces at F are not strong enough to enforce the no-sliding condition at
F and the wheel and axle assembly moves in a way that there is rolling and sliding. Such sliding leads
to important problems:
1. Since there is sliding at F and possibly also on the right wheel, the sliding of the tires deteriorates
the capability to steer and to control the vehicle. This leads to reduction of stability and
potentially dangerous driving conditions.
2. The sliding friction forces on the tires result in faster and uneven wear of the tires, as well
as increase in tire temperatures. It is always a good idea to have a wheel alignment done
after replacing tires that have worn out unevenly or faster than what the manufacturer has
recommended.
3.5 Bicycle Model of a Car
Modeling a four-wheeled vehicle leads to complex models, especially when we include tire exibility
eects. A simpler model that is frequently used is the bicycle model, or single-track model, in which
the vehicle is approximated by a rigid body, a front tire that is steered and a rear tire that rolls on
3.5. BICYCLE MODEL OF A CAR 111
an axle. Figure 3.8 shows the top view. The wheelbase of the vehicle is L. The model should more
correctly be called a tricycle model, such as the one considered in Chapter 1, because the lean of the
vehicle is not considered.
Figure 3.8: Bicycle model of a car: top view.
Let us count the degrees of freedom. The body of the car, without wheels, has three degrees
of freedom (rigid body moving on a plane). Select the three position variables as coordinates of the
center of mass by X
G
, Y
G
, and rotation angle . The steer angle adds one more d.o.f. for a total of
four. Each tire takes away a degree of freedom since there is no sliding at A and B, resulting in a two
degree of freedom system.
Two coordinate systems xyz and x
depict the geometry. The xyz coordinates move with

the body of the vehicle, while x
are attached to the front wheel. It follows that in the absence of

sliding the wheels move in the direction of their heading and their velocities are v
A
= v
A
i, v
B
= v
B
i
.
Thus, the no sliding constraints at A and B can be expressed as
v
A
j = 0 v
B
j
= 0 (3.5.1)
Let us next locate the instant center of the vehicle. Since the velocity directions of A and B
are known, we can draw perpendicular lines to the two velocities, and where the lines intersect is the
instant center. For a vehicle, the instant center is frequently called the turn center. The distance h
from the instant center to the rear tire is the turn radius for the rear wheel. The distance d from the
instant center to the front tire is the turn radius for the front wheel.
The information above can be used to relate the angular velocity of the vehicle to the steer
angle. From Fig. 3.8, the steer angle is related to the wheelbase by tan = L/h. When the steer angle
is small we can use the small angles assumption, tan , so that
=
L
h
(3.5.2)
The distance h from the rear wheel A to the instant center is obtained as h = L/. The speed of point
A can be expressed as v
A
= h
, and combining the two relationships leads to an expression relating

the angular velocity

of the vehicle to the steer angle as
=
v
A
L
(3.5.3)
The equations of motion of the bicycle model will be considered later on in this text. Consider
next the lateral acceleration of a point, say of point A. For point A, and considering normal-tangential
coordinates, the x direction is the tangential direction and the y direction is the normal direction. It
follows that the normal acceleration of point A is its lateral acceleration and it has the form
a
An
= a
A
j =
v
2
A
h
=
v
2
A
L
(3.5.4)
The front wheels track a larger path than the rear wheels. This is not an important issue with
passenger cars, but for trucks and buses it is, especially when taking turns at lower speeds. Indeed,
when a truck or bus takes a turn or while exiting a highway, the driver must keep in mind the smaller
path tracked by the rear wheels so that the rear wheels will not hit the curb or leave the road surface.
Specications for the width and curvature of entry and exit lanes take into consideration the dierence
in paths tracked by the front and rear wheels.
This section concludes with a few denitions pertaining to steering:
Steering wheel turn is the number of revolutions a steering wheel can make when going from
lock to lock (from as much steering in one direction to another). In most passenger vehicles,
steering wheels can make three revolutions.
Steering ratio is the ratio between the rotation angle of the steering wheel to the rotation
angle of the wheels. For most cars, this ratio is between 12 and 20. The steering ratio is smaller
for sporty and race cars. Some vehicles, such as those equipped with rack-and-pinion steering,
use a variable steering ratio. The steering ratio is larger in the middle of the rack and becomes
smaller as the steering wheel is turned more.
Maximum steer angle is the largest steer angle a wheel can assume. For three revolutions of
the steering wheel and a steer ratio of 16, the maximum steer angle becomes
360 revolutions/2
steer ratio
3/2 360/16 34
Minimum turn circle is the smallest circle that can be traversed by a vehicle (e.g., as the vehicle
makes a U-turn). The diameter of this circle is calculated by 2L/ sin
max
. For passenger vehicles,
the minimum turn circle has a diameter of 35 ft. Many people colloquially (and mistakenly) refer
to the diameter of the turn circle as the turn radius.
Example 3.4
To illustrate the substantial eect of steer angle on the vehicle angular velocity (yaw), consider a
vehicle with a wheelbase of L = 108 in. = 9 ft, a speed of v
A
= 60 mph = 88 ft/sec, and a steer angle
of 1
= 1/57.296 rad, which is quite small. From Eq. (3.5.3), the angular velocity is
=
v
A
L
= 88
1
9

1
57.296
= 0.1706 rad/sec = 9.78
/sec [a]
This is a high angular velocity for a small steer angle. Extreme levels of precision and accuracy
need to go into the design and manufacture of steering system components. A small rotation in the
steering wheel should accurately translate to a proportional value of the steer angle, especially at high
speeds. Loss of accuracy in steering, either due to wear and tear or malfunctioning components, has
a detrimental eect on the stability of a vehicle.
Next, calculate the lateral acceleration. Using Eq. (3.5.4) the lateral acceleration is
a
An
=
v
2
A
L
= 88
2
1
57.296

1
9
= 15.02 ft/sec
2
[b]
which is close to an acceleration of 0.5 g. This value is near the limit lateral acceleration of most
passenger vehicles ( 0.7g). From Eq. [b], the lateral acceleration is linearly proportional to the steer
angle, so that if in this problem the steer angle is doubled to 2
, the lateral acceleration would be

almost 1g. A small change in the steer angle can result in substantial dierences in lateral acceleration.
The turn radius (correct denition of the term turn radius used here) d of the rear wheel and
turn radius h of the front wheel can be calculated as
d =
L
sin
=
9
sin1
= 515.69 ft h =
L
tan
=
9
tan1
= 515.61 ft [c]
These two quantities are very close to each other, justifying the small angle assumptions used earlier.
Example 3.5
Calculate the turn radii of the front and rear wheels for a vehicle with a wheelbase of L = 9 ft, given
that the maximum value of the steer angle is
max
= 33
.
The steer angle of
max
= 33
is not small, so the small angle assumption is not used here.

The turn radii become
d =
L
sin
max
=
9
sin33
= 16.525 ft h =
L
tan
max
=
9
tan33
= 13.859 ft [c]
so that the turn diameters are 16.5252 = 33.050 ft for the front wheels and 13.8592 = 27.718 ft for
the rear. This example demonstrates that there can be quite a dierence between the paths tracked
by the front and rear wheels, even for cars, when the steer angle is large.
3.5.1 Where is the Instant Center of a Car?
Consider the four wheel model of a car (with proper wheel alignment). Each wheel rolls without
slipping and sliding, so each wheel moves in the direction of its heading. The steer angles of the front
Figure 3.9: Instant center(s)? of a car.
left and right wheels are the same. To nd the location of the instant center, we draw perpendicular
lines to each wheel, as shown in Fig. 3.9.
There are three lines and the three lines do not meet at one point. So, where is the instant
center?
It follows that turning motion of a four-wheeled vehicle is not possible without sliding if the
front tires have the same steer angle. The system becomes over-specied. Counting the d.o.f. helps
understand this point. The body of the car, without wheels, has three degrees of freedom, describing
the two translations and the rotation. The steering adds one more () for a total of four. Each front
tire takes away a d.o.f. The no-sliding condition of the two rear tires, when perfectly parallel to each
other and perpendicular to the axle, reduces one additional d.o.f. so the system is eectively down to
one d.o.f. This d.o.f. is the translational motion of the vehicle when the steer angle is zero, that is,
moving along a straight line. Recall that the simplied car (bicycle model) has two d.o.f.
In order for the turning motion of a vehicle to take place, the no sliding constraint must be
violated in one or both front tires. This is what happens in practice, as the lateral acceleration due
to turning overcomes the friction forces that prevent sliding.
The sliding problem arising when the front wheels have the same steer angle was noticed in the
19th century, as carriage tires would leave tire marks as they turned. The sliding problem disappears
when the steer angles of the front wheels are selected so that the three lines mentioned above intersect
at one point, as shown in Fig. 3.10. This is known as the Ackermann steering condition.
Denoting the track of the vehicle, which is the distance from the two rear tires,
2
by t and the
inner wheel (the one closer to the center of rotation) and outer wheel angles by
o
and
i
, respectively,
2
Some vehicles have dierent track values in the front and rear.
Figure 3.10: Ackermann steering.
one can observe from Fig. 3.10 that
tan
i
=
L
h
tan
o
=
L
h +t
(3.5.5)
Rewriting the steer angles in terms of cotangents (1/tangent) and subtracting the cotangents gives us
cot
o
cot
i
=
h +t
L

h
L
=
t
L
(3.5.6)
which is the Ackermann steering condition. The inner front wheel has a larger steer angle than the
outer front wheel in Ackermann steering. This dierence in steer angles is achieved by designing
steering systems as linkages
3
. There are several types of such designs. No one design can satisfy the
Ackermann condition exactly for all values of the steer angles, but they come close for a range of steer
angles.
A trapezoidal steering design is shown in Fig. 3.11 in the form of a four-bar linkage. The arm
length a and angle is selected such that the Ackermann condition is satised for as large a range of
the steer angles as possible. A commonly used way to accomplish this is by selecting the angle such
that the extensions of the arms meet at the center of the rear axle, so that tan = t/2L.
Modern cars do not use pure Ackermann steering, partly because the Ackermann steering
model is based on a kinematic model and hence it ignores important dynamic and compliance eects
associated with tires, especially at high speeds. Some vehicles, especially in racing circles, prefer to use
reverse Ackermann steering, where the steer angle of the outer wheel is larger than the inner wheel.
Table 3.1 summarizes the neutral, Ackermann and reverse Ackermann steering conditions.
3
Linkages are studied in Sec. 3.8
Figure 3.11: Trapezoidal linkage for Ackermann steering.
Table 3.1: Steering types.
Type of Steer Steer Angles
Neutral
i
=
o
Ackermann
i
>
o
Reverse Ackermann
i
<
o
Example 3.6
A vehicle has a wheelbase of L = 9 ft and track of t = 5 ft. For a turn radius of h = 250 ft, calculate
the steer angles for the inside and outside wheels.
From Eq. (3.5.5)
i
= tan
1
_
L
h
_
= tan
1
9
250
= 2.0618
o
= tan
1
_
L
h +t
_
= tan
1
9
255
= 2.0214
[a]
This is yet another example of the tremendous precision that is required of steering mechanisms. The
two steer angles dier from each other by only 2%.
Example 3.7 - Instant Center(s) of Multi-Axle Vehicles
Consider the bicycle model of a multi axle vehicle, such as a truck, characterized by two rear axles and
one front axle, as shown in Fig. 3.12. Drawing the lines perpendicular to the velocities of the wheels,
it is clear that the perpendicular lines for the two rear tires are parallel to each other. The truck will
not have an instant center or be able to take a turn, as long as the no-sliding assumption holds true.
3.6. KINEMATIC DIFFERENTIAL EQUATIONS 117
Figure 3.12: Bicycle model of multi-axle vehicle.
If in Fig. 3.12 the rearmost axle (A) does not slide, then the velocity of the second rear axle
(D) becomes
v
D
= v
A
+ r
D/A
= v
A
i +k ei = v
A
i +ej [a]
Point D has the same velocity as point A in the x direction but axle D also has a velocity
component in the lateral direction of magnitude e, which is indicative of the sliding that occurs at
D. Conversely, if axle D does not slide, axle A will slide with have a lateral velocity of e. If we
increase the distance between the axles, that is, if in our terminology as e becomes larger, the amount
of slip increases. The further the rear axles are from each other, the more sliding will occur, which is
the reason why most trucks with two rear axles have the axles close to each other.
An approximate way to deal with vehicles with two rear axles is to assume that there is no
sliding at the midpoint between the axles (point E in Fig. 3.12). In other words, we assume that both
rear axles will slide a certain amount.
3.6 Kinematic Dierential Equations
Kinematic dierential equations are a useful tool when analyzing the kinematics of bodies, especially
those subjected to nonholonomic constraints. The kinematic dierential equations give the rates of
change of the displacement coordinates in terms of the velocity variables. They are in the form of
rst-order ordinary dierential equations, which can be integrated to nd the time histories of the
position variables.
Kinematic dierential equations do not, however, represent the complete description of the
motion of a system. The kinetics of the system, as described by the equations of motion, is also
needed. The kinematic dierential equations can be used on their own as a design tool when it
is relatively easy and straightforward to produce changes in the velocity variables. An example is
vehicular motion at near constant speeds and with small changes in the steer angle.
Let us consider the bicycle model in Fig. 3.8 and derive the kinematic dierential equations.
The coordinates of the center of mass G are X
G
and Y
G
and the body and steer angles are and ,
respectively. Two local coordinate systems, xy, moving with the body of the vehicle, and x
, moving
with the front tire, are used to describe the kinematics. It is assumed that the tires do not slide.
Hence, the velocity of point A is along the x-axis and velocity of point B is along the x
-axis. The
two nonholonomic constraints are
v
A
j = 0 v
B
j
= 0 (3.6.1)
As discussed earlier, while the variables X
G
, Y
G
, and are independent of each other, the
nonholonomic constraints force their derivatives to be dependent on each other. Assuming that the
steer angle is completely controllable by the driver, we can write the velocity constraints in terms
of the position variables. Using relative velocity equations, the velocity of the rear axle (point A) is
expressed as
v
A
= v
G
+ r
A/G
(3.6.2)
or
v
A
=

X
G
I +

Y
G
J +

k L
1
i
=
_

X
G
cos +

Y
G
sin
_
i +
_
Y
G
cos

X
G
sin L
1

_
j = v
A
i (3.6.3)
leading to the nonholonomic constraint
Y
G
cos

X
G
sin L
1

= 0 (3.6.4)
Equation (3.6.3) can be solved for

X
G
and

Y
G
as
X
G
= v
A
cos L
1

sin

Y
G
= v
A
sin +L
1

cos (3.6.5)
From Eq. (3.5.3),

= v
A
/L, so the kinematic dierential equations can be written as
X
G
= v
A
cos
L
1
L
sinv
A

Y
G
= v
A
sin +
L
1
L
cos v
A

=
1
L
v
A
(3.6.6)
Using X
A
, Y
A
and as the motion variables, we can show that the kinematic dierential
equations have the form
X
A
= v
A
cos

Y
A
= v
A
sin

=
1
L
v
A
(3.6.7)
3.7 Topspin and Backspin
Objects that move through the air (or any uid) encounter a resistive force called drag force that is
proportional to the square of the speed. If the object has rotational motion as well as translational
motion, depending on the sense of rotation, the drag force acting on the body will have dierent
3.8. MECHANISMS 119
Figure 3.13: Balls moving in air (side view): a) topspin, b) backspin.
values along the body. These eects are considered in Chapter 4. Here, the terminology associated
with rotation of balls is introduced.
Consider two balls moving horizontally in air (or some other uid), viewed from the side, as
shown in Fig. 3.13. Both objects are moving to the right, that is, in the positive X direction, with
the Z direction being the vertical. The ball in Fig. 3.13a has a clockwise spin, so that = J. The
velocity of point B, the highest point on the ball, becomes
v
B
= v
G
+ r
B/G
= vI +J RK = (v
G
+R) I (3.7.1)
indicating that the velocity of point B is higher than the velocity of the center of the ball. Similarly,
the velocity of point A is v
A
= (v
G
R) I, that is, lower than the velocity of the center of the ball.
This type of motion is referred to as topspin.
By contrast, the ball in Fig. 3.13b has a counterclockwise angular velocity and the velocities
of points A and B can be shown to be
v
A
= (v
G
+R) I v
B
= (v
G
R) I (3.7.2)
and thus the top of the ball has a lower speed than the bottom. Such motion is referred to as backspin.
Topspin and backspin of balls aect the motion of the ball during travel in the air, changing
the magnitude of the drag force, as well as when making contact with other bodies, such as in shooting
a basketball with a backspin, hitting a ball in tennis, throwing a curveball in baseball or when playing
billiards. In baseball, the pitcher sometimes pitches the ball so that the angular velocity of the ball is
about the vertical axis. This can be visualized by considering Fig. 3.13 as the top view of the traveling
ball. Included in this type of pitch are the slider and the screwball.
3.8 Mechanisms
Mechanisms constitute an important application of kinematics for the purpose of transmitting motion.
Windshield wipers and steering and suspension systems in vehicles, pumps, pistons of engines, door
and casement window closers, door hinges, folding chairs, robots, garden shears, power transmission
in trains are all examples of mechanisms transmitting motion from a source to an output. As we
have perceived the desire or the need to transmit motion in more complex ways, we have turned to
mechanism design to create a contraption to carry out the desired task. The history of mechanisms is
full of ingenious as well as failed designs. Figure 3.14 shows some mechanisms.

a) b)
Figure 3.14: Examples of mechanisms: a) door closer, b) train wheels.
A mechanism is broadly dened as an assembly of components connected by movable joints
that transmit motion in a predetermined fashion. Mechanisms contain one or more kinematic elements,
such as linkages, cams, gears, belts or chains. Many mechanisms can be analyzed just by kinematic
principles, as the forces they transmit are usually much smaller than the forces their components can
withstand. This section considers mechanisms that transmit plane motion.
3.8.1 Links and Joints
Mechanisms are assembled using links and joints. A link is a component that possess at least two
nodes, which are used as points of attachment to other links or to a body. The connection between
links is accomplished by means of joints. A collection of several links connected by joints is called a
kinematic chain or linkage.
Linkages can be classied into two types: open and closed. In an open linkage, also known as
an open chain, at least one of the links is connected to only one joint. In a closed linkage, all links are
connected to at least two other links. Figure 3.15 depicts open and closed links.
Figure 3.15: a) Open and b) closed links.
Another classication of links is by the number of nodes (attachments for joints) they have.
As shown in Fig. 3.16, a binary link has two nodes. A ternary link has three and a quaternary link
has four nodes.
3.8. MECHANISMS 121
Figure 3.16: a) Binary link, b) ternary link, c) quaternary link.
Joints are primarily classied according to the number of degrees of freedom that are allowed
at the joint (or the number of degrees of restraint that the joint provides), and the type of contact
that exists at the joint. Less signicant criteria include the closure of the joint and the number of
links joined.
The most widely used joint is the revolute joint. A revolute joint is also referred to as a pin
joint or turning pair. For plane motion, adding one link to another by a revolute joint adds one d.o.f. to
the system. We can also view the eect of joining two links by a revolute joint as taking away two
d.o.f. from the combined d.o.f. of the independent links connected by revolute joint.
Consider the plane motion and the link in Fig. 3.15a. There are three links connected by
revolute joints. It is customary to consider the xed surface to which link 2 is attached as a link
itself. This link is referred to as the grounded link and is usually denoted as link number 1. Link 2
in Fig. 3.15a has one d.o.f. Each added link (links 3 and 4) increases the d.o.f. by one, for a total of
three.
The linkage in Fig. 3.15b diers from Fig. 3.15a through the addition of a pin joint, which
connects link 4 to the grounded link (link 1). The pin joint imposes two constraints, so that the linkage
in Fig. 3.15b has one d.o.f. for the entire linkage.
Another widely-used joint is the prismatic or sliding joint, as shown in Fig. 3.17. Like a
revolute joint, a prismatic joint also adds one d.o.f. to the component that it is attached to. A
common use of prismatic joints is to connect the sliding element to a link by a revolute joint. The
resulting joint is called a cylindrical pair. Cylindrical pairs are found in pistons and other motion
transmission mechanisms where sliding motion is required.
Figure 3.17: Prismatic joint.
There are several other types of joints including those that involve three-dimensional motion
like a joystick or a screw, as well as ball and socket joints. The interested reader is referred to the
several excellent texts on kinematics listed at the end of the chapter.
3.8.2 Degrees of Freedom: Grueblers Equation
The number of degrees of freedom of a mechanism are of utmost importance, as they indicate the
dierent number of ways the mechanism can move and hence the number of controls that are needed
to manage the motion of the mechanism. For the most part, mechanisms are designed so that they
have one d.o.f. In a one d.o.f. mechanism, by providing a specied motion to one of the links, we can
obtain a desired motion from the other links.
We can evaluate the individual links of a mechanism or linkage to determine the number of
d.o.f. But, because the number of d.o.f. each link or joint adds (or takes away) is known, we can
calculate the number of d.o.f. for planar linkages using Grueblers equation, which states
d.o.f. = M = 3n 2J 3G (3.8.1)
where n is the number of links, J is the number of joints and G is the number of grounded links (G
is always 1 for open as well as closed links). In mechanism study, the number of d.o.f. is also referred
to as the mobility and is denoted by M.
As an example, let us calculate the mobility of the mechanism shown in Fig. 3.18. There are
seven mobile links and one grounded link, referred to as link 1, for a total of n = 8. There also are
10 joints. Note that one of the joints on the ternary link (link 5) is a double joint, counting for two
joints and link 8 is connected to the ground by a prismatic joint. The mobility is
M = (3 8) (2 10) (3 1) = 1 (3.8.2)
Figure 3.18: A linkage.
Note that there are exceptions to Grueblers equation, which does not consider the sizes and
shapes of the links. In these exceptions, Grueblers equation predicts zero mobility yet the mechanism
3.8. MECHANISMS 123
still moves. In circumstances such as the ones shown in Fig. 3.19a and Fig. 3.19b, the resulting
mechanism has one d.o.f. when certain geometrical relationships are satised. In Fig. 3.19a, the
exception occurs when L
2
= L
3
= L
4
, and all links are all parallel to each other, making one of the
links redundant (that is, the geometry creates a redundancy), so that the redundant link does not
aect the kinematics of the other links.
Figure 3.19b represents two spur gears, which can be considered as a mechanism with three
links (the two gears and the grounded link) and three joints (the two pin joints and the point of
contact between the links), resulting in a mobility of M = 3 3 2 3 3 1 = 0, as represented
in Fig. 3.19c, which is a schematic of the mechanism shown in Fig. 3.19b. The exception occurs when
there is no sliding between the two gears (which in ensured by the gear teeth) and r
1
+r
2
= L, where
r
1
and r
2
denote the pitch radii of the two gears.
4
In a mechanism designed with redundant components, the dimensions of the components must
be extremely accurate; otherwise the mechanism will not move or it will deform during motion.
Figure 3.19: Exceptions to Grueblers equation: a) redundant link, b) spur gear, c) triangular struc-
tural member, or truss.
3.8.3 Four-Bar Linkage and Slider-Crank Mechanism
Figure 3.20: a) The four-bar mechanism and b ) the slider-crank mechanism.
4
Fig. 3.19c is proof that the triangle is the most stable structural member, with a mobility of zero. A truss is, in
essence, a collection of triangular structural members.
The four-bar linkage and slider-crank mechanism are two of the most important linkages in the
study of kinematics. If we examine complex mechanisms, we can see that they are comprised of two
or more four-bar linkages or slider-cranks connected in a special way. For example, the mechanism in
Fig. 3.18 can be viewed as the combination of a four-bar linkage (1-2-3-4) and a slider-crank (1-6-7-8)
connected by the ternary link, link 5.
Shown in Fig. 3.20a and Fig. 3.20b, both the four-bar and slider-crank mechanisms have one
d.o.f. each. They nd dierent uses depending on the link sizes and the link that is grounded, as
shown in Fig. 3.21. Figure 3.21a is a vice grip and Fig. 3.21b is a hand pump.
Figure 3.21: Uses of mechanisms: a) vice grip (four-bar), b) hand pump (slider-crank).
3.9 Instant Center Analysis for Linkages
Section 2.11 demonstrated that a body undergoing plane motion has an instantaneous center of zero
velocity (instant center), about which the body rotates at that instant. Here we extend the concept
of instant center to linkages and mechanisms and learn additional methods of locating instant centers.
The most general denition of an instant center (IC) is as follows: An instant center is a point
common to two bodies in plane motion, and it has the same instantaneous velocity in each body. The
instant center of two bodies can lie on one of the bodies or it can lie outside both bodies. The two
bodies do not need to be connected to each other. The number of instant centers in a one d.o.f. linkage
is n(n 1)/2, where n is the number of linkages. An instant center can have nonzero velocity.
The denition of instant center that we studied earlier in Sec. 2.11 is the instant center between
the body under consideration and the grounded link, that is, a xed surface from which the motion
is measured. As the grounded link has zero velocity, so does the instant center. An IC that has zero
velocity is a center of rotation and it thus becomes a useful tool for velocity analysis.
Instant centers have a useful property. Known as Kennedys rule, this property facilitates
the nding of ICs and it can be stated as: Any three bodies in plane of motion have three ICs
(n(n 1) /2 for n = 3 = 3 (3 1) /2 = 3) and the three ICs lie on the same line. Again, the three
bodies do not need to be connected.
The following notation is widely used when dealing with linkages and their instant centers.
3.9. INSTANT CENTER ANALYSIS FOR LINKAGES 125
The linkages are denoted by 1, 2, 3, ... The grounded link is labeled as link no. 1. The instant
center of links j and k is denoted by I
jk
or I
jk
, with the smaller index usually placed rst. The joints
attached to grounded links are denoted by O
1
, O
2
, . . . . Other joints are denoted by J
1
, J
2
, . . . .
3.9.1 Locating Instant Centers in Linkages
Consider the four-bar linkage in Fig. 3.22 and label the links and joints according to the convention
above. To nd the instant centers, it is preferable to begin with what is known from the geometry
and to nd the rest of the ICs by means of Kennedys rule.
Figure 3.22: Four-Bar linkage and its instant centers.
There are six ICs (n = 4 = n(n 1) /2 = 6) of which four can be located from the
geometry. These are the four ICs that reside at the joints. Since each joint connects two links, it is
common to both links it joins. This identies ICs I
12
, I
23
, I
34
, I
14
by inspection. ICs I
12
and I
14
have zero velocity as they are associated with the grounded link (link 1).
The instant centers to be found are I
13
and I
24
. Consider I
13
rst and Kennedys rule. Links 1,
2 and 3 have three common ICs I
12
, I
23
, I
13
and these ICs lie on a straight line. Similarly, associated
with links 1, 3 and 4 are three ICs: I
13
, I
34
, I
14
. These ICs lie on a straight line. Two lines are
drawn next, one going through I
12
, I
23
and the other going through I
14
, I
34
. Their intersection is
I
13
. Similarly, I
24
is found as the intersection of two lines, one going through I
12
, I
14
and the other
through I
23
, I
34
. Note that I
13
has zero velocity. However, unlike ICs I
12
and I
14
the location of I
13
changes as the mechanism moves.
Next, consider the slider-crank mechanism in Fig. 3.23. The procedure for nding the instant
centers is similar to the four-bar linkage. The dierence is in the treatment of the prismatic joint. As
link 4 slides over a straight line and the radius of curvature of a straight line is at innity, instant
center I
14
is at innity and it is located by drawing a perpendicular line to the line over which the
slider moves.
After locating I
12
, I
23
, I
34
, I
14
from the geometry, we proceed to nd ICs I
13
and I
24
. I
13
is
located as the intersection of the two lines, one going through I
12
, I
23
and the other through I
14
, I
34
.
Figure 3.23: Slider-Crank mechanism and its instant centers.
Note that I
14
is at innity and I
34
lies on the line that was drawn to mark the location of I
14
.
Finding I
24
requires the intersection of two lines, one going through I
12
, I
14
and the other
through I
23
, I
34
. The line going through I
23
, I
34
is easy to draw. But how about the line going
through I
12
, I
14
? Since I
14
is at innity we draw a line that goes through I
12
which is parallel to the
line (connecting I
34
and I
13
) that was drawn as perpendicular to the motion of the slider. I
24
is the
intersection of those two lines, as shown in Fig. 3.23.
In a mechanism that has more than one d.o.f., we cannot nd all the ICs by means of the
geometry alone. Additional information about the velocities is needed.
For mechanisms that have several links, we can make use of an instant center locating tool,
shown in Fig. 3.24, that facilitates locating instant centers. A circle is drawn, and the links are
marked on the circumference. Once the location of an IC of two links is determined, a solid line is
drawn between the numbers of the two links on the circle.
Figure 3.24: Diagram for locating instant centers.
As discussed earlier, the procedure is to rst identify all the ICs that can be located by visual
inspection and to then draw the corresponding lines on the kinematic diagram. For the four-bar linkage
above, instant centers I
12
, I
23
, I
34
and I
14
are located by inspection and solid lines are drawn on the
locating tool. The diagram then provides suggestions as to which sets of points to join so that we can
locate the other ICs. Drawing a dashed line between points 1 and 3, we can form two triangles, 1-2-3
and 1-3-4. Hence, we draw a line joining ICs I
12
and I
23
is drawn. Then we draw another line that
goes through ICs I
14
and I
34
. The intersection of these two lines is I
13
. The procedure is repeated for
I
24
.
The instant center locating tool becomes more useful when there are more than four links.
Note that for mechanisms with several links it is not always necessary to calculate the locations of all
of the instant centers. We usually nd only the ICs that are needed for analysis or design.
Example 3.8
Figure 3.25: Six-Bar mechanism.
Locate the instant centers of the mechanism in Fig. 3.25.
This mechanism has six linkages and seven joints, so its mobility is
M = 3n 2J 3 = (3 6) (2 7) 3 = 1 [b]
The number of instant centers is n(n 1) /2 = 15. Instant centers I
12
, I
23
, I
34
, I
15
and I
56
are
located by observation, as they are located at the pin joints. Also, I
14
and I
46
are at innity. A
total of seven ICs are identied by visual inspection and the remaining eight ICs need to be located.
The instant center locating diagram, where we draw solid lines between the instant centers that are
located, as shown in Fig. 3.26, comes in handy.
To locate I
13
we draw a dashed line between links 1 and 3 on the IC locating tool. Triangles
1-3-4 and 1-2-3 each have two solid lines, indicating that we can locate I
13
as the intersection of the
extensions of two lines, one line joining I
12
and I
23
and the other joining I
14
and I
34
. The result is
shown in Fig. 3.27. Note that some of the instant centers are not shown in Fig. 3.27. For example,
I
26
is not shown, as it extends quite far out of the page. Also, lines that need to be drawn to locate
I
36
and I
25
are not shown.
Figure 3.26: Kinematic tool for six-bar mechanism.
Figure 3.27: Instant centers of the six-bar mechanism.
The other instant centers are found in a similar way. Table 3.2 shows the instant centers that
need to be connected in order to nd the remaining instant centers. As we progress in locating the
unknown instant centers, towards the end we may have several choices of linkage triples to consider.
Also, using ICs with zero velocity facilitates the process.
Table 3.2: List of link triples used to locate instant centers.
To Find Use Link Triples and Connect
I
13
1-2-3, 1-3-4 I
12
with I
23
I
14
with I
34
I
45
1-4-5, 1-4-6 I
14
with I
15
I
46
with I
56
I
16
1-4-6, 1-5-6 I
14
with I
46
I
15
with I
56
I
24
1-2-4, 2-3-4 I
12
with I
14
I
23
with I
34
I
35
1-3-5, 3-4-5 I
13
with I
15
I
34
with I
45
I
36
3-5-6, 1-3-6 I
35
with I
56
I
13
with I
16
I
26
1-2-6, 2-3-6 I
16
with I
26
I
23
with I
36
I
25
1-2-5, 2-3-5 I
12
with I
15
I
23
with I
35
3.9.2 Velocity Analysis Using Instant Centers
One can calculate velocities of joints or of points on links, as well as angular velocities of links, by
means of instant centers. For a one d.o.f. mechanism, all that is needed is a single piece of velocity
(or angular velocity) information, such as the velocity of a joint or angular velocity of a link. We can
move from one IC to another to determine the other velocities. ICs associated with grounded links are
particularly useful, as they are centers of rotation. It usually is not necessary to locate all the instant
centers for a velocity analysis. The procedure is best described by means of an example.
In design problems, where we design a mechanism to obtain a range of desired motions, the
locations of the instant centers and how an instant center moves for dierent positions of the links are
signicant. This is because the angular velocities of the links and velocities of points on the links are
related to the locations of the instant centers, especially those associated with the grounded link.
Example 3.9
For the four-bar linkage in Fig. 3.22, given that the angular velocity of link 2 is
2
cw, nd the angular
velocity of link 4.
Denote the link lengths by L
j
and velocities of the joints by v
j
, (j = 1, 2, 3, 4). The velocity
of joint J
2
, which is I
23
, can be found by
v
2
= L
2
2
[a]
where L
2
is the length of link 2. Next, make use of I
13
and write the velocity of I
23
as
v
2
= I
13
I
23
3
[b]
in which I
13
I
23
denotes the distance between I
13
and I
23
. This distance can be calculated using
geometry. It should be noted here that before we conduct an instant center analysis, we should know
(or should have calculated) all distances and angles from the given information.
Using the instant center I
13
, which has zero velocity, the angular velocity of the third link can
be calculated as
3
=
v
2
I
13
I
23
=
L
2
2
I
13
I
23
[c]
and it is counterclockwise. Since the angular velocity of link 3 is now known, the velocity of joint J
3
can be found using
v
3
= I
13
I
34

3
[d]
where, again, I
13
I
34
is found from the geometry. The velocity of joint J
3
can also be found from the
angular velocity of link 4 using v
3
= L
4
4
. Combining this relationship with the above equation yields
the angular velocity of link 4 as
4
=
v
3
L
4
=
I
13
I
34
L
4
L
2
2
I
13
I
23
[e]
where L
4
is the length of link 4, or L
4
= I
14
I
34
. The angular velocity of the fourth link is clockwise.
This makes sense, as a clockwise rotation of link 2 causes a clockwise rotation of link 4.
The lengths between the links and the instant centers can be calculated from the geometry,
which have to be known in this problem.
5
If the linkage is drawn to scale (or somewhat to scale), we
can measure the distances involved by a ruler and obtain a ballpark estimate of the angular velocities
and velocities. This feature of velocity analysis by instant centers is useful in design.
3.10 References
Baruh, H., Analytical Dynamics, McGraw-Hill, 1999.
Erdman, A.G., Sandor, G.N. and Kota, S., Mechanism Design, Vol. 1, 4th Edition, Prentice-Hall,
2001.
Myszka, D.H., Machines and Mechanisms, 4th Edition, Prentice Hall, 2011.
Norton, R.L., Design of Machinery: An Introduction to the Synthesis and Analysis of Mechanisms
and Machines, 4th Edition, McGraw-Hill, 2008.
3.11 Problems
Problems are marked by E - easy, M - moderate, and D - dicult. Computer oriented problems are
marked by C.
5
If not, rst use the geometry and calculate all link lengths and angles.
3.11. PROBLEMS 131
Section 3.2 - Motion with Respect to the Rotating Earth
3.1 (E) A race car is traveling eastward with a speed of 70 m.p.h. in Highland Park, New Jersey.
Calculate the magnitude of the Coriolis acceleration. Assuming the Coriolis acceleration is the only
acceleration acting on the vehicle, calculate the deection due to the Coriolis acceleration that is
generated in ten seconds of driving.
3.2 (E) Every other year (or so) a second is added to standard time to account for the slowing of the
angular velocity of the Earth. Calculate the angular deceleration (assume it is constant) of the Earth
if we add one second to standard time every two years.
3.3 (M) An experimental vehicle travels from the Equator to the South Pole along a continuous railway
track. The vehicle moves at a constant speed of 350 m.p.h. relative to the Earth. Calculate and plot
the Coriolis acceleration a
Coriolis
as a function of latitude angle .
Section 3.4 - Rolling
3.4 (M) The planetary gear in Fig. 2.46b can be viewed as the inverse of Example 3.2. The planet
(smaller gear is rotating clockwise with angular velocity
P
= 3 rad/s cw. The dimensions are L = 4
in., R = 3.5 in., and r = 0.5 in. Obtain the relationship between the angular velocity of the planet
and the angular velocity of the arm connecting the gears when i) the gear (large gear) is stationary,
and ii) when the gear is rotating counterclockwise with angular velocity
G
= 0.3 rad/s.
3.5 (M) The disk in Fig. 3.28 of radius R rolls without slipping with constant angular velocity .
Carved inside the disk is a slot and a mass moves inside the slot. Denoting the position of the mass
inside the slot by s, calculate the velocity and acceleration of the mass as a function of .
3.6 (D) The arm OB in Fig. 2.46b rotates with constant angular velocity 3 rad/s ccw, with point O
stationary. Find the following using instant centers: i) Angular velocity of gear B if gear D is xed,
ii) Angular velocity of gear B if D is rotating with a clockwise angular velocity of 2.5 rad/s.
Section 3.5 - Bicycle Model of a Car
3.7 (M) Rear wheel steering is a relatively new technology in vehicles, where the rear wheels are steered
in addition to the front wheels. The steer angle for the rear wheel is usually computer controlled. Rear
wheel steering for the bicycle model is shown in Fig. 3.29. Given a vehicle with wheelbase 2.85 m and
front steer angle of
f
= 5
, calculate the turn radius for the rear wheel when the rear steer angle is
a)
r
= 3
, b)
r
= 3
. Compare the results you get with the turn radius when
f
= 8
and
f
= 2
,
with
r
= 0
. Comment on when you would prefer a negative rear steer angle and when a positive
rear steer angle is preferred.
Figure 3.30: Figure for Problems 3.8 and 3.10.
3.8 (M) Figure 3.30a shows the top view of a trailer and Fig. 3.30b shows the side view. Both the
front and rear vehicles are modeled by assuming that all wheels roll without slip or slide. Locate the
instant centers of the vehicle and of the trailer and calculate the angular velocity of the trailer, given
the speed v
A
and steer angle of the front vehicle.
Section 3.6 - Kinematic Dierential Equations
3.9 (E) Derive the kinematic dierential equations in Eq. (3.6.7).
3.10 (D) Figure 3.30a shows the top view of a trailer and Fig. 3.30b shows the side view. Both the
front and rear vehicles are modeled by assuming that all wheels roll without slip or slide. Treat
the steer angle as a known quantity (driver-provided input) and determine the number of degrees of
freedom and constraints. Then, using X
A
, Y
A
, X
D
, Y
D
,
F
and
R
as generalized coordinates, write
the kinematic dierential equations using v
A
as the velocity variable.
3.11. PROBLEMS 133
3.11 (C) Write a computer program to numerically integrate the kinematic dierential equations in
Eq. (3.6.7) and apply the equations to simulate parallel parking of a vehicle. The parallel parking
maneuver should consider a parallel parking spot of length 4.1 m., width 1.7 m., and you should make
sure that the front of the vehicle does not hit the car in front of it. The vehicle is of wheelbase 3.4
m and width 1.4 m. You can use a prole like a sinusoidal or a prole like the steering prole, or
another prole of your choice. You can use a constant vehicle speed v
A
that is small, such as 0.2 m/s.
When parked, the vehicle should be parallel to the curb (less than 5
angle with the curb) and be at

a distance not wider than 0.25 m. from the curb.
Section 3.8 - Mechanisms
Figure 3.31: Figure for Problems 3.12, 3.16, and 3.19.
3.12 (E) Calculate the number of degrees of freedom of the mechanism in Fig. 3.31. Identify the
four-bar and slider-crank components of the mechanism.
3.13 (E) Identify and sketch the mechanism that allows the folding chair in Fig. 3.32 to fold.
3.14 (E) Calculate the number of degrees of freedom of the mechanism in Fig. 2.43.
Section 3.9 - Instant Center Analysis for Linkages
3.15 (E) Locate all of the instant centers of the mechanism in Fig. 3.33 geometrically.
3.16 (M) Locate all of the instant centers of the mechanism in Fig. 3.31 geometrically.
3.17 (M) Locate all of the instant centers of the mechanism in Fig. 2.47 geometrically.
3.18 (M) Consider the slider-crank mechanism in Fig. 3.23. Given the length of the crank as L and
slider arm length of 2L, calculate the velocity of the slider as a function of the crank angular velocity
ccw, when the crank is at an angle of 30
with the horizontal.

3.19 (D) Given that link 2 in the mechanism in Fig. 3.31 is rotating with angular velocity , calculate
the velocity of the slider.

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Chapter 2

clockwise to obtain the xyz coordinates.

, so that the matrix between the two coordinate systems is

is the second parameter describing the motion. The third parameter is

, is along this direction and it obeys the rule e

= cos J sinI (2.5.17)

change direction as point P moves. To obtain the velocity, we need to

. Consequently, the coordinate system has moved by , as shown in Fig. 2.12.

and is rotating at the rate of = 0.2

. Next, rotate the XY Z

. In Earth geometry, the azimuth angle is the longitude. The zenith

minus the latitude.

= j = sinI + cos J (2.5.30)

form a mutually orthogonal set with e

lying on the xz (or xZ)

forms a 5-12-13 triangle, so = tan

. The unit vectors are

in Fig. 2.21b. These positions do not change

is the point to which P moves after the rotation. Note

about the X axis to get the

coordinates and then rotate about the Z

to get the xyz coordinates. Repeating

coordinates leads to a dierent orientation

. Comparing the other simple elements in the

with the X axis, 60

with the Y axis and is perpendicular to the Z axis, as shown

and the coordinates of a point dened by r

) = 0.4067, sin = sin(66

) = 0.9135, and using Eq. (2.7.23) results

, and calling the rotated axes X

. The associated rotation (a

frame and the vector

to get the xyz frame. The associated rotation (a 1 rotation)

= cos q + (1 cos ) (q n) n + sinn q (2.8.19)

frame. The angular velocity of the

frame about the Z

frame is also simple angular

, or xyz. In general, it is more convenient to express the angular velocity of a reference

to xyz is a 3-rotation, and from Eq. (2.7.5) we write I

and rotate this frame by

frame is rotating. Evaluating

. Using Eq. [b], the

with the horizontal. Also,

cw, nd the angle between r and q.

clockwise about the Z axis, obtain the cross product r q using

. Calculate the radius of

on the x axis is 55 ft away from O and the distance from P

to P varies according to the

is rotated about the Z

to yield the xyz coordinates. Find the

ccw to get the X

coordinates and then by rotating

coordinate system by an angle of 30

axis to get the xyz coordinates. Find

coordinates. Then, the X

coordinates system is rotated by an angle of about the X

axis to get the X

axis by . Find the resulting rotation matrix [R]. Evaluate [R]

. Then nd the coordinates in the XY Z system of a point whose

axes are then rotated by 10

axes. Finally, the X

axes are rotated by 18