BRACHISTOCHRONIC MOTION OF A NONLINEAR NONHOLONOMIC MECHANICAL SYSTEM MODEL

Abstract

The paper analyzes the brachistochronic motion of a nonlinear nonholonomic mechanical system [1] in a horizontal plane, between two specified positions. Differential equations of motion are created based on the general theorems of dynamics. The formulated brachistochrone problem is solved applying the variational calculus. The two-point boundary value problem (TPBVP) of the system of nonlinear differential equations is solved by the shooting method. Special attention is directed to the realization of thus obtained brachistochronic motion.