In this article, the non-smooth contact dynamics of multi-body systems is formulated as a complementarity problem. Minimal coordinates operational space formulation is used to derive the dynamics equations of motion. Depending on the approach used for modeling Coulomb’s friction, the complementarity problem can be posed either as a linear or a nonlinear problem. Both formulations are studied in this paper. An exact modeling of the friction cone leads to a nonlinear complementarity problem (NCP) formulation whereas a polyhedral approximation of the friction cone results in a linear complementarity problem (LCP) formulation. These complementarity problems are further recast as non-smooth unconstrained optimization problems, which are solved by employing a class of Levenberg-Marquardt algorithms. The necessary theory detailing these techniques is discussed and five schemes are implemented to solve contact dynamics problems. A simple test case of a sphere moving on a plane surface is used to validate these schemes, while a twelve-link pendulum example is chosen to compare the speed and accuracy of the schemes presented in this paper.

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