Eulerian Angles: Difference between revisions

Revision as of 23:44, 7 December 2015

Introduction

When you have a body that rotates in plane motion (2-D), it is easy to find the orientation of the body if you have the angular velocity as a function of time. You can integrate this value to find the orientation of the body at any position. In the image shown, we can find out the position of an object at any place in the xy plane.

File:AngularVelocityPosition2D.PNG

Simple angular velocity equation in 2D.

Unfortunately, you cannot integrate an angular velocity vector with 3-D components to get the orientation of the body in three dimensional space. This requires the concept of Eulerian Angles, which are used in determining a body's orientation in space using angular velocity in the x, y, and z axes.

Eulerian Angles

Essentially, to describe the orientation of a body in 3 dimensions we must describe its rotation about three specific axes. In our example shown in the image, we will first rotate our body's reference frame about the k axis (black to blue), then the j axes (blue to green), and finally the k axis again (green to red).

Note, we moved from the black i, j, k axes to the blue i, j, k axes, where the k axis remained the same for both black and blue frames. Then we moved from the blue i, j, k axes to the green i, j, k axes, where the j axis remained the same for both the blue and green frames. Finally, we moved from the green i, j, k axes to the red i, j, k axes, where the k axis remained the same for both the green and the red frames.

Angular Velocity Using the addition theorem (can be further studied at Coursera) we find that the body A with respect to the inertial frame I is defined to be w = θ' k (black/blue axis) + φ' j (blue/green axis) + ψ' k (green/red axis). However, everything here is defined in different frames and we must consolidate our equations into one coordinate system.

Converting Into One Frame

Example of a Gyroscope

We can use the procedure outlined above to describe the orientation of a gyroscope at any time given the components of its angular velocity. An example of a rotation gyroscope is shown in the image.

Simple

Connectedness

How is this topic connected to something that you are interested in?

All objects in the real world move in complex ways. Luckily for us, we only experience 3 dimensions. Hence, we can use the Eulerian Angles to classify all sorts of rotational behaviors. Knowing how much angular velocity an object has in any direction can give us its position at any time.

How is it connected to your major?

This topic is vastly connected to any major related to engineering mechanics. Mechanical engineering students and aerospace students will find this to be one of the fundamental building blocks of their field of study, as it is an important tool for engineers working in 3 dimensions. Imagine trying to position a satellite in space but not being able to determine where it's facing at a given time! Even video game creators and animators require Eulerian angles for mouse control and orienting animated objects (links below).

References

Dr. Wayne Whiteman DEFINE THE PROPERTIES OF ANGULAR VELOCITY FOR 3D MOTION Coursera Lesson on Eulerian Angles

McGill, David J., and Wilton W. King. An Introduction to Dynamics. Monterey, CA: Brooks/Cole Engineering Division, 1984. Print.

@@ Line 27: / Line 27: @@
 ===Simple===
-You drop a single coffee filter of mass 1.1 grams from a very tall building, and it takes 46 seconds to reach the ground. In a small fraction of that time the coffee filter reached terminal speed.
-. What is the upward force of air resistance while the coffee filter was falling at terminal speed?
- At terminal velocity Fair=mg
-.1/1000 = .0011kg
- .0011kg* 9.8 m/s^2 = .01078N
-. If you drop a stack of 6 coffee filters what is the upward force of air resistance at terminal speed?
-.1/1000= .0011kg*6= .0066kg
-  .0066kg*9.8m/s^2 = .06468kg
-===Middling/Difficult===
-Johnathan is driving a 1000kg car down a road at 30m/s when his friend cuts his breaks again and there is no friction between the wheels and road. He can only rely on air resistance to slow his car down since the emergency brake can only be pulled at 2 m/s. If this force is equal to -kv where v is velocity through air and k is 2, when can John pull the emergency break?
-. [[File:FORCEDIAGRAM.jpg]]
-. Sum of Forces = ma
-   -Kv= 1000a
-   -Kv = 1000 (dv/dt)
-   -2v= 1000 (dv/dt)
-   -dt/500 = (dv/v)
-. Integrate
-   (-t/500)+c = ln(v)
-. Solve for v
-    e^((-t/500) *c = v
-    v(0) = c1*e^(0) = c1
-    v(0) = 30
-    v = 30 *e^(-t/500)
-    v(t) = 30*e ^ (-t/500)
-    v(2) = 30*e ^ (-t/500)
-    ln(1/15)= -t/500
-     t - 500ln15
 ==Connectedness==
 #How is this topic connected to something that you are interested in?
-This topic is connected to airplanes which are a fascinating invention. It is hard to imagine that humans have been able to find a way to get a massive object to fly into the sky. When one really delves into all the physics that getting a plane into the air requires it really is fasccinating.
+All objects in the real world move in complex ways. Luckily for us, we only experience 3 dimensions. Hence, we can use the Eulerian Angles to classify all sorts of rotational behaviors. Knowing how much angular velocity an object has in any direction can give us its position at any time.
 #How is it connected to your major?
-This is not directly connected to my major. Although the chemical engineering field is vast I do not think there is yet, a connection with the concept of drag force.
+This topic is vastly connected to any major related to engineering mechanics. Mechanical engineering students and aerospace students will find this to be one of the fundamental building blocks of their field of study, as it is an important tool for engineers working in 3 dimensions. Imagine trying to position a satellite in space but not being able to determine where it's facing at a given time! Even video game creators and animators require Eulerian angles for mouse control and orienting animated objects (links below).
-#Is there an interesting industrial application?
-Air resistance is part of a much bigger application of physics known as aerodynamics which is essentially the study of how fluids and gases interact with objects in motion. The most common example of aerodynamics is airplanes. Engineers and scientist have to use the principles of aerodynamics (air resistance/drag force included) in order to determine the shape, engines, wings of a plane. It gets much more complicated when forces such a light, weight, thrust and drag come together.
-[[File:Dragplane.jpg]]
-== See also ==
-Are there related topics or categories in this wiki resource for the curious reader to explore?  How does this topic fit into that context?
 ===Further reading===
+Euler Angles in Video Games
+[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zZM2uUkEoFw Mouse Control]
-Books, Articles or other print media on this topic
+Euler Angles Related Examples
+[http://www.chrobotics.com/library/understanding-euler-angles CHRO Robotics]
-===External links===
+Euler Angles for Animations
+[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zc8b2Jo7mno Euler (Gimbal lock) Explained]
-Internet resources on this topic
 ==References==
 Dr. Wayne Whiteman
 DEFINE THE PROPERTIES OF ANGULAR VELOCITY FOR 3D MOTION
-Nave, R. "Terminal Velocity." Hyper Physics. N.p., n.d. Web. 7 Dec. 2015. <http://hyperphysics.phy-astr.gsu.edu/hbase/airfri2.html#c3>.
+[https://www.coursera.org/learn/motion-and-kinetics/lecture/nkGSe/module-13-eulerian-angles-for-3d-rotational-motion Coursera Lesson on Eulerian Angles]
-MATHEMATICAL COMPONENT, EXAMPLES (EASY AND MIDDLING)
+McGill, David J., and Wilton W. King. <i>An Introduction to Dynamics</i>. Monterey, CA: Brooks/Cole Engineering Division, 1984. Print.
-Chabay, Ruth W., and Bruce A. Sherwood. Matter and Interactions. Hoboken, NJ: Wiley, 2011. Print.