1. Nonholonomically constrained motions. 1.1. Newton's equations. 1.2. Constraints. 1.3. Lagrange-d'Alembert equations. 1.4. Lagrange derivative. 1.5. Hamilton-d'Alembert equations. 1.6. Distributional Hamiltonian formulation. 1.7. Almost Poisson brackets. 1.8. Momenta and momentum equation. 1.9. Projection principle. 1.10. Accessible sets. 1.11. Constants of motion. 1.12. Notes -- 2. Group actions and orbit spaces. 2.1. Group actions. 2.2. Orbit spaces. 2.3. Isotropy and orbit types. 2.4. Smooth structure on an orbit space. 2.5. Subcartesian spaces. 2.6. Stratification of the orbit space by orbit types. 2.7. Derivations and vector fields on a differential space. 2.8. Vector fields on a stratified differential space. 2.9. Vector fields on an orbit space. 2.10. Tangent objects to an orbit space. 2.11. Notes -- 3. Symmetry and reduction. 3.1. Dynamical systems with symmetry. 3.2. Nonholonomic singular reduction. 3.3. Nonholonomic regular reduction. 3.4. Chaplygin systems. 3.5. Orbit types and reduction. 3.6. Conservation laws. 3.7. Lifted actions and the momentum equation. 3.8. Notes -- 4. Reconstruction, relative equilibria and relative periodic orbits. 4.1. Reconstruction. 4.2. Relative equilibria. 4.3. Relative periodic orbits. 4.4. Notes -- 5. Carathéodory's sleigh. 5.1. Basic set up. 5.2. Equations of motion. 5.3. Reduction of the E(2) symmetry. 5.4. Motion on the E(2) reduced phase space. 5.5. Reconstruction. 5.6. Notes -- 6. Convex rolling rigid body. 6.1. Basic set up. 6.2. Unconstrained motion. 6.3. Constraint distribution. 6.4. Constrained equations of motion. 6.5. Reduction of the translational [symbol] symmetry. 6.6. Reduction of E(2) symmetry. 6.7. Body of revolution. 6.8. Notes -- 7. The rolling disk. 7.1. General set up. 7.2. Reduction of the E(2) x S[symbol] symmetry. 7.3. Reconstruction. 7.4. Relative equilibria. 7.5. A potential function on an interval. 7.6. Scaling. 7.7. Solutions of the rescaled Chaplygin equations. 7.8. Bifurcations of a vertical disk. 7.9. The global geometry of the degeneracy locus. 7.10. Falling flat. 7.11. Near falling flat. 7.12. The bifurcation diagram. 7.13. The integral map. 7.14. Constant energy slices. 7.15. The spatial rotational shift. 7.16. Notes.

This book explores connections between control theory and geometric mechanics. The author links control theory with a geometric view of classical mechanics in both its Lagrangian and Hamiltonian formulations, and in particular with the theory of mechanical systems subject to motion constraints. The synthesis is appropriate as there is a rich connection between mechanics and nonlinear control theory. The book provides a unified treatment of nonlinear control theory and constrained mechanical systems that incorporates material not available in other recent texts. The book benefits graduate students and researchers in the area who want to enhance their understanding and enhance their techniques.

This book gives a modern differential geometric treatment of linearly nonholonomically constrained systems. It discusses in detail what is meant by symmetry of such a system and gives a general theory of how to reduce such a symmetry using the concept of a differential space and the almost Poisson bracket structure of its algebra of smooth functions. The above theory is applied to the concrete example of Carathodory's sleigh and the convex rolling rigid body. The qualitative behavior of the motion of the rolling disk is treated exhaustively and in detail. In particular, it classifies all motions of the disk, including those where the disk falls flat and those where it nearly falls flat. The geometric techniques described in this book for symmetry reduction have not appeared in any book before. Nor has the detailed description of the motion of the rolling disk. In this respect, the authors are trail-blazers in their respective fields.

This book explores connections between control theory and geometric mechanics. The author links control theory with a geometric view of classical mechanics in both its Lagrangian and Hamiltonian formulations, and in particular with the theory of mechanical systems subject to motion constraints. The synthesis is appropriate as there is a rich connection between mechanics and nonlinear control theory. The book provides a unified treatment of nonlinear control theory and constrained mechanical systems that incorporates material not available in other recent texts. The book benefits graduate students and researchers in the area who want to enhance their understanding and enhance their techniques.

* The invited papers in this volume are written in honor of Alan Weinstein, one of the world’s foremost geometers * Contributions cover a broad range of topics in symplectic and differential geometry, Lie theory, mechanics, and related fields * Intended for graduate students and working mathematicians, this text is a distillation of prominent research and an indication of future trends in geometry, mechanics, and mathematical physics

Nonholonomic systems are a widespread topic in several scientific and commercial domains, including robotics, locomotion and space exploration. This work sheds new light on this interdisciplinary character through the investigation of a variety of aspects coming from several disciplines. The main aim is to illustrate the idea that a better understanding of the geometric structures of mechanical systems unveils new and unknown aspects to them, and helps both analysis and design to solve standing problems and identify new challenges. In this way, separate areas of research such as Classical Mechanics, Differential Geometry, Numerical Analysis or Control Theory are brought together in this study of nonholonomic systems.

Several issues are investigated in depth to provide a sound and complete justification of the DAE model. These issues include the development of a generalized Gauss principle of least constraint, a study of the effect of the failure of an important full-rank condition, and a precise characterization of the state spaces. In particular, when the mentioned full-rank condition is not satisfied, this book shows how a new set of equivalent constraints can be constructed in a completely intrinsic way, where, in general, these new constraints comply with the full-rank requirement.