Nonholonomic mechanical systems with symmetry (Q2365370)

This work develops the geometry and dynamics of mechanical systems with nonholonomic constraints and symmetry from the Lagrangian mechanics and with an aim to provide control-theoretical applications. The basic methodology is that of geometric mechanics applied to the Lagrange-d'Alembert formulation, generalizing the use of connections and momentum maps and associated with a given symmetry group. In particular, the Ehresmann connection is used to write the kinematic constraints as the condition of horizontality with respect to this connection, and it is shown that the equations of motion can be written in terms of base variables and that these equations involve the curvature of the connection. Unlike the situation with standard constraints in the configuration space, the presence of symmetries in the nonholonomic case may or may not lead to conservation laws. However, the momentum map determined by the symmetry group still satisfies a useful differential equation that can be decoupled from the group variables. This momentum equation, which plays an important role in control problems, contains parallel transport operators and is written explicitly in terms of coordinates. One of the purposes of this paper is to investigate the evolution equation for momentum and to distinguish geometrically and mechanically the cases when the momentum is conserved and when is not. An example of the former situation is a ball or vertical disk rolling on a plane, and an example of the latter situation is a snakeboard. The authors combine the mechanical connection with the Ehresmann connection by defining the constraints and by obtaining an important new object which they call the nonholonomic connections. Several detailed examples are given to illustrate the theory.