Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Preface
- 1 Setting the Scene
- 2 Trigonometry, the Foundation of Coordinate Theory
- 3 The Vector Dot and Cross Products
- 4 Vector Preliminaries and Constructing a Basis
- 5 Converting Vector Coordinates Across Bases
- 6 Vector Rotation in Two and Three Dimensions
- 7 Rotation Sequences and the Fundamental Theorem
- 8 Coordinate Systems for Earth, and More Rotation Sequences
- 9 The Role of Quaternions in Rotation Theory
- 10 Time Dependence of Vehicle Attitude
- 11 Frame Dependence of the Time Derivative
- 12 Earth’s Orientation in Space, and Time on Earth
- 13 Orbital Mechanics
- 14 Rigid-Body Dynamics
- 15 Modelling the Motion and Attitude of a Vehicle
- 16 Concepts of Tensor Analysis
- Index
5 - Converting Vector Coordinates Across Bases
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 17 April 2025
Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Preface
- 1 Setting the Scene
- 2 Trigonometry, the Foundation of Coordinate Theory
- 3 The Vector Dot and Cross Products
- 4 Vector Preliminaries and Constructing a Basis
- 5 Converting Vector Coordinates Across Bases
- 6 Vector Rotation in Two and Three Dimensions
- 7 Rotation Sequences and the Fundamental Theorem
- 8 Coordinate Systems for Earth, and More Rotation Sequences
- 9 The Role of Quaternions in Rotation Theory
- 10 Time Dependence of Vehicle Attitude
- 11 Frame Dependence of the Time Derivative
- 12 Earth’s Orientation in Space, and Time on Earth
- 13 Orbital Mechanics
- 14 Rigid-Body Dynamics
- 15 Modelling the Motion and Attitude of a Vehicle
- 16 Concepts of Tensor Analysis
- Index
Summary
This chapter begins the proper study of the closely related subjects of how to transform vector coordinates across bases, and how to quantify vehicle attitude. The direction-cosine matrix appears, and I discuss its properties. I then cover several in-depth examples of using it to describe aircraft attitude. Transforming coordinates leads to a discussion of the meaning of position, which serves to introduce homogeneous coordinates. I end with an example of calculating the motion of a ship.
Keywords
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- Rotation Sequences and the Theory of Vectors and Coordinates , pp. 106 - 136Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2025