4.11.

POINT MASS DYNAMICS

59

along the ISA, describing their intersection point, and one angle describing its orientation about the ISA;
and need two more parameters, representing their magnitudes; their direction is already determined by
the second order ISA.)

4.11

Point mass dynamics

Before tackling the dynamics of a complete rigid body (in Sect. 4.12), this Section first describes the dynamics
of one single, ideal point mass. All concepts introduced here will generalize smoothly to rigid bodies, and to
kinematic chains (in Chap. 6). In his Principia Mathematica (first published in 1687, [186]), Sir Isaac Newton
(16421727) stated the three physical principles behind the dynamics theory required in this text:
1. Law of inertia. A point mass, on which no forces act, continues in a rectilinear motion with constant
velocity. This velocity is zero for a point mass in rest.
2. Equation of motion. The relation between a point mass acceleration r and the force f exerted on it, is
linear. The proportionality factor is the mass m:
f = m
r.

(4.35)

3. Action and reaction. The forces that two bodies exert on each other are equal and opposite.
Newton discussed only point masses, such that his laws apply only directly to the translational motion of the centre
of mass of a rigid body. Hence, the motion parameters of the rigid body are restricted to E 3 : its acceleration
three-vector r , and the linear force three-vector f exerted at the centre of mass.
Equation (4.35) is Newtons second law in its most widely used form: it assumes that the mass m does not
change over time. However, this law has an alternative formulation that is more general, in that it allows the
inertial properties (i.c., mass) to change too:
f=

dp
d(mr)
=
.
dt
dt

(4.36)

The three-vector p is the linear momentum of the moving body. (For compatibility reasons with most dynamics
literture, this Chapter uses a little different notation than the other Chapters: the symbol p denotes a momentum,
the linear momentum three-vector p is a line vector,
and r denotes a position.) Unlike the velocity three-vector r,
just like the force three-vector to which it is linked by Eq. (4.36). From this relationship it is clear that the
structural properties of momentum are the same as those of force. The law of conservation of linear momentum
is a direct consequence of the momentum equation (4.36): if no external forces work on the mass, the linear
momentum does not change over time.
The time invariance of the bodys mass may seem obvious for a rigid body, but for a kinematic chain of rigid
bodies it isnt: since the rigid bodies that make up the manipulator can move with respect to each other, the
inertial properties of the total manipulator (such as its centre of mass) do change over time. So, instead of the
acceleration equation Eq. (4.35), it will be easier to generalise the momentum equation Eq. (4.36) from the case
of one single rigid body to the case of an articulated chain of rigid bodies.

4.11.1

Coriolis and centrifugal effects

Newtons equation of motion, Eq. (4.35), assumes that the three-vectors f and r are expressed with respect to an
inertial frame. The formal definition of such an inertial frame seems to give rise to a cyclic reasoning: an inertial
frame is a frame in which Newtons law is valid. The choice of an appropriate inertial frame is task-dependent:
for most practical applications, a frame fixed to the earth suffices; celestial or global dynamics require frames
attached to the solar system or even the fixed stars. In robotics, the base frames of robots that are fixed to the
earth are most often valid inertial frames, because the earths dynamic effects (i.e., caused by the difference in
distances to the earths graviational centre) are orders of magnitude smaller than the dynamics of the robot and
its task. But frames connected to the end-effector, or to one or more of the intermediate links of the robots, are
typically not inertial frames, because they move with speeds and accelerations comparable to those of the robots
task. For many robots, however, it is exactly in these moving frames that one has to express the dynamics of
the robot, since the motors generate the forces and torques in these frames. Hence, it is necessary to know the
expression of Newtons law in a moving reference frame. This expression formally gets extra terms, in addition

60

CHAPTER 4. RIGID BODY KINEMATICS AND DYNAMICS

to the f = ma component. However, these extras are not physical forces, but artefacts of the coordinate
representations in moving frames. The reason they are not physical is that you can not use them to generate
useful power to perform a task, for example.

Figure 4.4: Position vector triangle for a point p moving with respect to a frame {m} that itself moves with
respect to an inertial world reference frame {w}.
So, imagine a point with mass m that moves with respect to a reference frame {m}, which itself moves with
respect to an inertial world reference frame {w}. The question is now: How does an observer moving together
with the frame {m} see the relationship between the acceleration m r of the moving point mass as he measures it
in his frame {m}, and the force f m exerted on the point mass? The answer to this question starts from the
position vector triangle in Fig. 4.4. Its coordinate representation with respect to the world reference frame {w}
is:
w,p
m,p
= w r w,m + w r m,p = w r w,m + m
.
(4.37)
wr
w R mr
The index p refers to the position of the point mass. The time derivative of this identity is calculated as in
Sect. 4.2.1, but now with time-varying coordinates of the point with respect to the moving frame. A simple
extension of Eq. (4.8), [84, p. 176], gives

wr

w,p

= w r w,m + w r m,p + [w ] w r m,p .

(4.38)

A second time derivation, and the application of Eq. (3.20), yield the acceleration of the point mass with respect
to {w}:
w,p = w r w,m + w r m,p + ([w ]
+ [w ] [w ]) w r m,p + 2[w ] w r m,p .
(4.39)
wr
Hence, as seen from the inertial frame, the point mass accelerates due to several causes:
1. If the point mass is fixed to the moving frame {m}, this frames linear acceleration w r w,m makes the point
mass accelerate with it.
2. The point mass can accelerate as seen from {m}. This gives rise to a change
magnitude of the velocity w r m,p of the point mass.

wr

m,p

in both direction and

the point mass accelerates too, hence the term [w ]

w r m,p .
3. If {m} undergoes an angular acceleration ,
4. The angular velocity of {m} induces an acceleration of the point mass, even if (i) {m} has no inertial
acceleration itself (i.e., w r w,m = = 0) or (ii) the point mass does not move with respect to {m} (i.e.,
m,p = m r m,p = 0). The term [] []r m,p is a three-vector acceleration, that points from the point mass
mr
towards the rotation axis. Hence, it is called the centripetal acceleration of the point mass. Centripetal
literally means proceeding or acting in a direction towards the centre.
5. If the point mass moves with respect to {m}, and {m} rotates with respect to {w}, the point mass accelerates
with the so-called Coriolis acceleration 2[] r m,p , [59]. The French civil engineer Gaspard G. de Coriolis
(17921843) was the first to use this reasoning to explain why reference frames fixed to the rotating earth
are not perfect inertial frames.
In the inertial world frame {w}, Newtons law connects the acceleration w r of the point mass m to the force w f
working on it: w f = m w r . The observer, however, sees the point mass move with a velocity m r m,p and with an

4.11. POINT MASS DYNAMICS

61

acceleration m r m,p ; while he sees the force

observer, the relationship between both is

mf

=m
w R w f exerted on the point. Hence, according to this moving

f m [] [] r 2m [] r = m
r.

(4.40)

(For simplicity, we omitted the subscript m and all other superscripts, and assumed that {m} does not accelerate
with respect to {w}.) This relationship means that the observer sees the same formal linear relation between
force and acceleration (f = m
r ), but disturbed by two forces: the centrifugal force f cf = m [] [] r, and
co
The centrifugal force f cf , as defined here, points away from the rotation
the Coriolis force f = 2m [] r.
axis, hence the adjective centrifugal, which literally means proceeding or acting in a direction away from the
centre. If we define the disturbance as m [] [] r, then it is called the centripetal force, since it is directed
towards the rotation axis. The centrifugal force f cf vanishes if the point mass coincides with the origin of {w},
i.e., r m,p = 0. The Coriolis force f co vanishes if the point mass doesnt move with respect to the moving frame
{m}, i.e., m r = 0. Both forces vanish if {m} does not rotate with respect to {w}, i.e., = 0 and hence {m} is
also an inertial frame. It is important to understand that the centrifugal and Coriolis forces are real to the extent
that an observer moving with the point mass will actually be able to feel or measure these forces. On the other
hand, the centrifugal and Coriolis forces have no physical origin except that they are only caused by the fact
that Newtons equation of motion, Eq. (4.35), does not hold formally for a moving observer. And centrifugal and
Coriolis forces cannot be used to generate useful energy.
In summary, the Coriolis force is proportional to (i) the velocity of the mass with respect to the moving
reference frame, and (ii) the angular velocity of this moving reference frame. The centrifugal force is proportional
to the square of the angular velocity of the moving reference frame. Both forces depend linearly on the moving
mass.

4.11.2

Moment of forceMoment of momentum

The moment of force m (also called moment for short) of the three-vector f that represents the action of a
force on a line, is classically defined as the vector product of (i) the lever arm r between the origin of the chosen
reference frame and the line of action of the force, and (ii) the force f :
m = r f.

(4.41)

Similarly, one defines the moment of momentum l of a moving point mass (with position vector r, velocity r,
as
and hence linear momentum p = mr)

l = r p = r mr.
(4.42)
p is a line vector, but l is a free vector. The moment of momentum is often also called the angular momentum
of the point mass. Newtons equation of motion f = dp/dt extends straightforwardly to
m=rf =r

dp
.
dt

(4.43)

In the identity
d
dr
dp
(r p) =
p+r
,
(4.44)
dt
dt
dt
the first term on the right-hand side vanishes because the linear momentum p is parallel to the time derivative of
the position vector r: both are proportional to the velocity r of the moving mass. This gives the more familiar
form of the moment form of Newtons law of motion:
m=

dl
d
= (r p).
dt
dt

(4.45)

This identity gives also rise to an obvious conservation property: if no external torques work on the moving mass,
then its angular momentum does not change over time.

4.11.3

Physical units

From the definitions (4.35), (4.41) and (4.42), the physical units of force f , moment of force m, and angular
momentum l are seen to be:
[f ] = mass acceleration =

kg m
= Newton (N) in SI units,
s2

(4.46)

62

CHAPTER 4. RIGID BODY KINEMATICS AND DYNAMICS

[m] = force distance =

kg m2
= Newton-meter (Nm) in SI units,
s2

(4.47)

kg m2
= Newton-meter-second (Nms) in SI units.
s

(4.48)

and
[l] = distance mass velocity =

4.12

Rigid body dynamics

This Section extends the Newtonian dynamics for a point mass (Sect. 4.11) to the Newtonian dynamics for a
single rigid body, by taking orientation into account. The Swiss mathematician Leonhard Euler (17071783) first
did this around 1735, describing the dynamics of rigid bodies that have one point fixed, such as spinning tops
or gyroscopes; later authors attached his name to that of Newton, now speaking of the Newton-Euler equations
for rigid body dynamics. The obvious generalizations soon followed: the fully unconstrained rigid body; the
reformulation as seen from a reference frame that is itself moving in an arbitrary way; the (partially) constrained
rigid body (Sect. ??). All these generalizations are relevant in robotics: the motors in the joints of the robot must
move the mass of all more distal parts of the robot, while they are themselves moved by the more proximal joints,
and all segments in the robots kinematic chain are constrained, by other segments or by physical interactions
with objects in the environment.

4.12.1

Decoupling of rigid body dynamics about centre of mass

A rigid body can be looked at as a continuous distribution of point masses that are rigidly connected through
cohesion forces f ij and f ji acting between each pair of points i and j in the body. (f ij is the force exerted by
point i on point j.) These forces f ij and f ji are equal in magnitude and opposite in direction:
f ij = f ji .

(4.49)

Newtons equations of motion, Eqs (4.35) and (4.36), are only valid for each of these point masses individually. In
these dynamical equations, the rigid body constraint forces f ji act as external forces on the point mass i. Hence,
they are to be included as such in Newtons equation of motion, Eq. (4.35):
f ext
+
i

f ji =

dpi
.
dt

(4.50)

This equation describes the motion (i.e., the change in the linear momentum) of the ith particle, under the
influence of (i) the external force f ext
acting on the point, and (ii) the rigidity constraint forces f ji exerted by
i
all other points j in the body. An equation like (4.50) holds for all points in the body. Hence, the summation of
these equations over all points gives
X
X dp
X
i
f ext
+
f ji =
.
(4.51)
i
dt
ij
i
i
The first term in the left-hand side of this equation is the total external force f that acts on the rigid body. The
second term vanishes, because of the action equals reaction principle of Eq. (4.49). The right-hand side can be
rewritten as
X dp

dt

X d2 (mi r i )
i
2

dt2

d X mi
m
dt2 i
mr i

d2 (mr c )
dt

dpc
.
dt

with m =

with r c =

mi

(4.52)

1 X
mi r i
m i

(4.53)

(4.54)

r c is the position vector of the so-called centre of mass of the set of particles. m is the total mass of the body. pc
is the linear momentum of a virtual point mass, carrying all mass m of the total rigid body and moving together

4.12. RIGID BODY DYNAMICS

63

with the centre of mass of the rigid body. If the rigid body has a continuous mass distribution, the summation
is replaced by an integral, and the mass of point i is replaced by the product of a mass distribution (r) with an
infinitesimal volume dV at the position r:
1
m

rc =

Z
(r)r dV,

(4.55)

and
Z
m=

(r) dV.

(4.56)

V is the spatial volume occupied by the body. Another interpretation of the centre of mass is the point that is
surrounded in all spatial directions by exactly the same amount of body mass:
Z

(r)(r r c ) dV.

0=

(4.57)

The right-hand side expression in Eq. (4.56) is called the zeroth order moment of mass of the rigid body; the
zero
refers to the fact that the moment arm r appears in the integral to the zeroth power. The integral
R
(r)r dV used in Eq. (4.55) isR called the first order moment of mass; the subsequent Sections will also need the
second order moment of mass (r)r r dV .
Newtons law for a rigid body
Applying the just-developed integration to Newtons law leads straightforwardly to the following reformulation:
under the action of an external force f , the centre of mass of a rigid body moves as if it were a point carrying all
mass of the body:
dpc
.
(4.58)
f = m
rc =
dt

4.12.2

Dynamics of angular momentum

The previous paragraphs generalised Newtons equation of motion from a point mass to a rigid body with finite
extension. A similar reasoning links the moment of force m to the time rate of the angular momentum of the
rigid body. Indeed, first take the vector product of Eq. (4.50) with the lever arm r i between the origin of the
world reference frame and the point mass i in the rigid body:
r i f ext
+
i

r i f ji = r i

dpi
.
dt

(4.59)

As for the angular momentum of a single point mass, the right-hand side can be rewritten as d(r i pi )/dt. Taking
the sum over all points i gives
X

r i f ext
+
i

r i f ji =

i,j

ri

dpi
.
dt

(4.60)

The second sum is equal to

X

(r i r j ) f ji =

i<j

r ji f ji .

(4.61)

i<j

Since the rigidity constraint forces f ji work along the line between the points i and j, r ji and f ji are parallel,
and their vector product vanishes. Hence, under the action of an external moment m, a rigid body changes its
angular momentum l according to the following law:
m=

dl
.
dt

(4.62)

64

4.12.3

CHAPTER 4. RIGID BODY KINEMATICS AND DYNAMICS

Inertia tensor about centre of mass

The position vector r of each point p in a rigid body splits as follows:

r = r c + r c,p ,

(4.63)

where r c is the position vector of the centre of mass with respect to the inertial world reference frame, and r c,p
is the vector from the centre of mass to the point in question. Together with Eqs (4.42) and (4.56), this gives the
following expression for the angular momentum l:
Z
l=
(r c + r c,p ) (r) (r c + r c,p ) dV
V

Z
d
= r c mr c +
r c,p (r) r c,p dV
dt
Z

Z V
d
c,p
c,p
c
(r)r dV +
(r)r dV r c,p ,
+r
dt V
V

(4.64)

with r c the velocity of the centre of mass with respect to the inertial world reference frame. By the definitions of
the linear momentum, Eq. (4.36), and the centre of mass, Eq. (4.55), the last two terms vanish, and one gets
l = ll + la = r c mr c +

(r)r c,p r c,p dV.

(4.65)

This means that the total angular momentum of a moving rigid body, as seen from an inertial reference frame, is
the sum of (i) the angular momentum ll of a point mass at the centre of mass carrying the mass of the complete
rigid body, and (ii) the angular momentum la of the rigid body about the centre of mass. Using the vector
identities depicted in Figure 4.5, la can be rewritten as
Z
a
l =
(r)r c,p ( r c,p ) dV
V
Z
=
(r)r c,p (r c,p ) dV
V
Z

=
(r)[r c,p ][r c,p ] dV
(4.66)
V

= I.

(4.67)

I is the (Cartesian) inertia tensor (or (rotational) inertia matrix, [76]) of the rigid body, as expressed with respect
to the centre of mass of the body. Equation (4.67) shows that the inertia tensor I can be interpreted as a linear
operator that maps the angular velocity of a moving rigid body onto the angular momentum la of the rigid
body about its centre of mass.
As for the linear momentum of the rigid body, Eq. (4.36), one can (with a slight abuse of notation) rewrite
its angular momentum as a six-vector screw l:

l=


0
.
I

(4.68)

Eulers law at the centre of mass

The combination of (i) the angular momentum dynamics of a rigid body, Eq. (4.62), and (ii) the decoupling of
the angular momentum about the centre of mass, gives Eulers law of angular motion dynamics: under the action
of an external moment m, a rigid body changes its angular motion about the centre of mass according to Eulers
law (1750):
d
m = (I).
(4.69)
dt

4.12. RIGID BODY DYNAMICS

65

and of a rotating rigid body.

Figure 4.5: Relations between the vectors r, r,
Inertia tensor in arbitrary frame
In Eq. (4.69), I is the inertia tensor about the centre of mass. Recall that the vector r c,p in Eq. (4.66) denotes
the position vector from the centre of mass to a point in the body. If, with respect to a reference frame {f }, this
vector r c,p has components x, y, and z, then the coordinate representation of the inertia tensor in this frame {f }
is
2

Z
y + z2
xy
xz
x2 + z 2
yz dV.
(f r) xy
(4.70)
fI =
2
V
xz
yz
x + y2
Or, in more compact form:
fI

= c I m [r c,p ] [r c,p ] .

(4.71)

[r c,p ] is the 3 3 vector product matrix corresponding to r c,p . So, it is clear that the inertia tensor is a symmetric
matrix, irrespective of the reference frame {f } in which it is calculated. The physical units of the elements in the
2
inertia tensor are mass (length) .
Reference frames for inertia tensor
The definition of the inertia tensor depends on the choice of two reference frames:
1. One frame is fixed to the rigid body, and has its origin at the centre of mass. The vector r c,p in the integral
in Eq. (4.70) runs from this origin to each point in the rigid body.
2. A second frame is the world reference frame in which the coordinates of this vector are expressed.
This means that Eq. (4.70) can be used to calculate the same inertia tensor (i.e., with the centre of mass as reference
point) with respect to different world frames: just use the same formal expressions, but fill in the coordinates
of the vector r c,p with respect to the chosen world reference frame. However, if one chooses a reference point in
these integrals that differs from the centre of mass, the resulting inertia tensor has to be calculated differently,
Section 4.12.6.

4.12.4

Kinetic energy

The decoupling about the centre of mass (as found in the momentum equations of a rigid body) is also reflected
in the kinetic energy of the moving body:
= v) is defined
1. The kinetic energy T of a single point mass with mass m and velocity r (with magnitude |r|
as
mv 2
m

T =
= r r.
(4.72)
2
2