Symbolic equations of motion (EOMs) for multibody systems are desirable for simulation, stability analyses, control system design, and parameter studies. Despite this, the majority of engineering software designed to analyze multibody systems are numeric in nature (or present a purely numeric user interface). To our knowledge, none of the existing software packages are 1) fully symbolic, 2) open source, and 3) implemented in a popular, general, purpose high level programming language. In response, we extended SymPy (an existing computer algebra system implemented in Python) with functionality for derivation of symbolic EOMs for constrained multibody systems with many degrees of freedom. We present the design and implementation of the software and cover the basic usage and workflow for solving and analyzing problems. The intended audience is the academic research community, graduate and advanced undergraduate students, and those in industry analyzing multibody systems. We demonstrate the software by deriving the EOMs of a N-link pendulum, show its capabilities for LATEX output, and how it integrates with other Python scientific libraries — allowing for numerical simulation, publication quality plotting, animation, and online notebooks designed for sharing results. This software fills a unique role in dynamics and is attractive to academics and industry because of its BSD open source license which permits open source or commercial use of the code.
Skip Nav Destination
ASME 2013 International Design Engineering Technical Conferences and Computers and Information in Engineering Conference
August 4–7, 2013
Portland, Oregon, USA
Conference Sponsors:
- Design Engineering Division
- Computers and Information in Engineering Division
ISBN:
978-0-7918-5597-3
PROCEEDINGS PAPER
Constrained Multibody Dynamics With Python: From Symbolic Equation Generation to Publication
Gilbert Gede,
Gilbert Gede
University of California, Davis, CA
Search for other works by this author on:
Dale L. Peterson,
Dale L. Peterson
University of California, Davis, CA
Search for other works by this author on:
Angadh S. Nanjangud,
Angadh S. Nanjangud
University of California, Davis, CA
Search for other works by this author on:
Jason K. Moore,
Jason K. Moore
University of California, Davis, CA
Search for other works by this author on:
Mont Hubbard
Mont Hubbard
University of California, Davis, CA
Search for other works by this author on:
Gilbert Gede
University of California, Davis, CA
Dale L. Peterson
University of California, Davis, CA
Angadh S. Nanjangud
University of California, Davis, CA
Jason K. Moore
University of California, Davis, CA
Mont Hubbard
University of California, Davis, CA
Paper No:
DETC2013-13470, V07BT10A051; 10 pages
Published Online:
February 12, 2014
Citation
Gede, G, Peterson, DL, Nanjangud, AS, Moore, JK, & Hubbard, M. "Constrained Multibody Dynamics With Python: From Symbolic Equation Generation to Publication." Proceedings of the ASME 2013 International Design Engineering Technical Conferences and Computers and Information in Engineering Conference. Volume 7B: 9th International Conference on Multibody Systems, Nonlinear Dynamics, and Control. Portland, Oregon, USA. August 4–7, 2013. V07BT10A051. ASME. https://doi.org/10.1115/DETC2013-13470
Download citation file:
55
Views
0
Citations
Related Proceedings Papers
Related Articles
A PID Type Constraint Stabilization Method for Numerical Integration of Multibody Systems
J. Comput. Nonlinear Dynam (October,2011)
An Efficient Hybrid Method for Multibody Dynamics Simulation Based on Absolute Nodal Coordinate Formulation
J. Comput. Nonlinear Dynam (April,2009)
Model-Order Reduction of Flexible Multibody Dynamics Via Free-Interface Component Mode Synthesis Method
J. Comput. Nonlinear Dynam (October,2020)
Related Chapters
Modeling and Implementing Business Processes in the E-Banking Domain
International Conference on Computer Engineering and Technology, 3rd (ICCET 2011)
An Outline / Structure of Software Engineering Group Project
International Conference on Computer Technology and Development, 3rd (ICCTD 2011)
Dynamic Behavior in a Singular Delayed Bioeconomic Model
International Conference on Instrumentation, Measurement, Circuits and Systems (ICIMCS 2011)