The Geometry of Virtual Work Dynamics in Screw Space

Abstract

In this paper, screw theory is employed to develop a method for generating the dynamic equations of a system of rigid bodies. Exterior algebra is used to derive the structure of screw space from projective three space (homogeneous coordinate space). The dynamic equation formulation method is derived from the parametric form of the principle of least action, and it is shown that a set of screws exist which serves as a basis for the tangent space of the configuration manifold. Equations generated using this technique are analogs of Hamilton’s dynamical equations. The freedom screws defining the manifold’s tangent space are determined from the contact geometry of the joint using the virtual coefficient, which is developed from the principle of virtual work. This results in a method that eliminates all differentiation operations required by other virtual work techniques, producing a formulation method based solely on the geometry of the system of rigid bodies. The procedure is applied to the derivation of the dynamic equations for the first three links of the Stanford manipulator.