The Structure of Multibody Dynamics Equations

Several alternative formulations for the dynamics of multibody systems are described. These alternatives include momentum and velocity formulations with decoupling or coupling of constraints. The presentation of equations is facilitated by the introduction of a path matrix and a reference matrix that describe the topology of the H-body configurations. The final equations of motion are obtained from the equations of motion for a single body via the transformation operator formalism. The equations of motion presented herein are compared with 10 /z-body dynamics formulations in the spacecraft dynamics literature.