On reorienting linked rigid bodies using internal motions

Provides algorithms for reorienting linked rigid bodies floating in space. The dynamics of these systems conserve both linear and angular momentum. The conservation of angular momentum is a nonintegrable or nonholonomic constraint. The authors derive this constraint by applying Noether's theorem to the Lagrangian of the system. When the total angular momentum is zero, the authors may dualize the constraint to a control system. The problem of reorienting the satellite becomes a steering problem for a drift free control system. The authors give explicit solutions for steering a planar skater and a satellite with two rotors. The planar skater has been simulated and animated on a graphics workstation. The authors also discuss the hardware setup which they built to verify the theoretical results.>