Spatial Dynamics of Deformable Multibody Systems With Variable Kinematic Structure: Part 2—Velocity Transformation

In Part 1 of these two companion papers, the spatial system kinematic and dynamic equations are developed using the Cartesian and elastic coordinates in order to maintain the generality of the formulation. This allows introducing general forcing functions and adding and/or deleting kinematic constraints. In control applications, however, it is desirable to determine the joint forces associated with the joint variables. On the other hand the use of the joint coordinates to formulate the dynamic equations leads to a complex recursive formulation based on loop closure equations. In this paper a velocity transformation technique applicable to spatial multibody systems that consist of interconnected rigid and deformable bodies is developed. The Cartesian variables are expressed in terms of the joint and elastic variables. The resulting kinematic relationships are then employed to determine the joint forces associated with the joint variables. A spatial robot manipulator that manipulates an object is presented as a numerical example to exemplify the development presented in this paper.