A geometric approach to the transpositional relations in dynamics of nonholonomic mechanical systems

Abstract

Exploring the geometry of mechanical systems subject to nonholonomic constraints and using various bundle and variational structures intrinsically present in the nonholonomic setting, we study the structure of the equations of motion in a way that aids the analysis and helps to isolate the important geometric objects that govern the motion of such systems. Furthermore, we show that considering different sets of transpositional relations corresponding to different transitivity choices provides different variational structures associated with nonholonomic dynamics, but the derived equations (being referred to as the generalized Hamel–Voronets equations) are equivalent to the Lagrange–d’Alembert equations. To illustrate results of this work and as some applications of the generalized Hamel–Voronets formalisms discussed in this paper, we conclude with considering the balanced Tennessee racer, as well as its modification being referred to as the generalized nonholonomic cart, and an [Formula: see text]-snake with three wheeled planar platforms whose snake-like motion is induced by shape variations of the system.