A new approach for the determination of the global minimum time for the Chaplygin sleigh brachistochrone problem

Abstract

A new approach for the determination of the global minimum time for the case of the brachistochronic motion of the Chaplygin sleigh is presented. The new approach is based on the use of the shooting method in solving the corresponding two-point boundary-value problem and defining either the crossing points of surfaces or the crossing points space of curves in a three-dimensional space of two costate variables and the time of the brachistochronic motion of the sleigh. A number of examples for multiple extremals of the Chaplygin sleigh brachistochrone problem are provided. In these examples, the global minimum is the solution to which the minimum time of motion corresponds.