Abstract
The effort/motion approach has been developed for use in designing, simulating and controlling multibody systems. Some aspects of each of these topics are discussed here. In the effort/motion formulation two sets of equations based on the orthogonal projections of a dimensional gauge invariant form of Newton’s Second Law occur. The projections are onto the normal and tangent directions of a dimensional gauge invariant constraint surface. The paper shows how these equations are obtained for a particular linkage with redundant effort and motion actuation. Two alternative Runga-Kutta based approaches for numerical simulation of the effort/motion equations are developed and applied in simulating the motion and determining the effort generated in the example linkage under various conditions. Oscillation about equilibrium positions, solutions with constant motion and with constant effort are given as examples of the approach.
