Geometric integration on Euclidean group with application to articulated multibody systems

Abstract

Numerical integration methods based on the Lie group theoretic geometrical approach are applied to articulated multibody systems with rigid body displacements, belonging to the special Euclidean group SE(3), as a part of generalized coordinates. Three Lie group integrators, the Crouch-Grossman method, commutator-free method, and Munthe-Kaas method, are formulated for the equations of motion of articulated multibody systems. The proposed methods provide singularity-free integration, unlike the Euler-angle method, while approximated solutions always evolve on the underlying manifold structure, unlike the quaternion method. In implementing the methods, the exact closed-form expression of the differential of the exponential map and its inverse on SE(3) are formulated in order to save computations for its approximation up to finite terms. Numerical simulation results validate and compare the methods by checking energy and momentum conservation at every integrated system state.