8 Dynamics
This chapter covers
- Dynamics: The relationship between forces/torques and motion
- Foundational physics principles underlying robot motion
- Equations of motion for rigid body mechanisms and robots
- Algorithms for forward dynamics and inverse dynamics
In chapter 5 we learned how to create a static model of the robot and its environment using geometry. Chapter 6 gave us the tools to represent changes over time, i.e. motion, using kinematics and calculus. In this chapter, we look into the forces and torques that cause motion in robots and their environment. Robot dynamics is rooted in classical physics, in particular rigid body systems. Alongside acquiring the next set of skills to write robot software, you will also (re)learn more about physics and how to capture physical phenomena in software. Even though we are keeping a strict focus on robotics, it is still nice to know that these “robotics skills” are directly applicable in such distant fields as computer games and engineering software.