A `user-friendly' approach to the dynamical equations of non-holonomic systems (Q2473432)

The aim of this paper is to propose a \textsl{ready to use} approach to the dynamics of non-holonomic systems, requiring the knowledge of just basic notions of vector calculus on Euclidean three-dimensional spaces and on tangent bundles. Cotangent bundles and jet bundles in general are avoided. The paper is written as a tutorial on non-holonomic mechanics. After an introductory section, in which regular kinematical constraints are represented by parametric and implicit equations, in Section 3 the author describes the notions of virtual displacement and ideal (or perfect) constraints. Next, the Gauss principle (Section 4) and the Gibbs-Appell equations (Sections 5 and 6) are described. If the kinematical constraints are represented by parametric equations, the dynamical equations of non-holonomic systems are derived in Section 7. Section 8 describes the dynamical equations if the constraint submanifold is represented by a set of implicit equations. Finally, in Section 9, four examples are treated: the skate, the vertical rolling disc, two co-axial rolling discs and two points with parallel velocities (a genuine non-linear non-holonomic system). Detailed calculations for all these examples are provided for each of the two representations of non-holonomic constraints (by using parametric or implicit equations).