Title: Configuration controllability of simple mechanical control systems (23 pages)
Author(s): Andrew D. Lewis and Richard M. Murray
Detail: SIAM Review. A Publication of the Society for Industrial and Applied Mathematics 41(3), pages 555-574, 1999 (Note: This paper is a watered down, easier to read, version of a paper with the same title which appeared in the SIAM Journal on Control and Optimization.)
Journal version: Download

Original manuscript: 1999/02/02
Manuscript last revised: 1999/05/18

In this paper we present a definition of "configuration controllability" for mechanical systems whose Lagrangian is kinetic energy with respect to a Riemannian metric minus potential energy. A computable test for this new version of controllability is also derived. This condition involves a new object which we call the symmetric product. Of particular interest is a definition of "equilibrium controllability" for which we are able to derive computable sufficient conditions. Examples illustrate the theory.

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Last Updated: Fri Mar 15 07:55:57 2024

Andrew D. Lewis (andrew at mast.queensu.ca)