The Dynamics of Systems with Servoconstraints. II

This paper addresses the dynamics of systems with servoconstraints where the constraints are realized by controlling the inertial properties of the system. Vakonomic systems are a particular case. Special attention is given to the motion on Lie groups with left-invariant kinetic energy and a left-invariant constraint. The presence of symmetries allows the dynamical equations to be reduced to a closed system of differential equations with quadratic right-hand sides. As the main example, we consider the rotation of a rigid body with a left-invariant servoconstraint, which implies that the projection of the body’s angular velocity on some body-fixed direction is zero.