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I'm not a math guy in the least but I'm interested in learning about rigid body physics (for the purpose of implementing a basic 3d physics engine). In school I only took Maths through Algebra II, but I've done 3d dev for years so I have a fairly decent understanding of vectors, quaternions, matrices, etc. My real problem is reading complex formulas and such, so I'm looking for some decent rigid body dynamics references that will make some sense.
Anyone have any good references?
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A rigid body is an idealization of a solid body in which deformation is neglected. In other words, the distance between any two given points of a rigid body remains constant in time regardless of external forces exerted on it. Example: A metal rod in an example of rigid body.
5 Dynamics of Rigid Bodies A rigid body is an idealization of a body that does not deform or change shape. Formally it is defined as a collection of particles with the property that the distance between particles remains unchanged during the course of motions of the body.
Rigid body is an idealization of solid body in which deformation is neglected. The distance between any two particles of a rigid body is always constant. In real world, no such thing exists!
It was a surprising discovery of Euler (1758) that the motion of a rigid body B in R3 with an arbitrary shape and an arbitrary mass distribution is characterized by a differential equation involving only three constants, the moments of inertia, that we shall denote I1,I2,I3– also called the Euler constants of the rigid ...
Physics for Game Programmers I think is better than Physics for Game Developers.
If you want something thick in your bookshelf (like I do), Eberly's 3D Game Engine Design and Erleben's Physics-Based Animation can accompany the above.
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Chris Hecker has a nice set of articles on his website which were originally published in Game Developer Magazine. They start with 2D physics and progress to 3D.
Physically Based Modeling by David Baraff is also good, but is a bit heavier on the math.
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I guess what you are looking for is Classical Mechanics, which describes motion in one, two, and three dimensions in a generalized manner.
I found a good introductory course on Classical Mechanics from the University of Texas.
I do not guarantee that you will be able to understand all the concepts there, but it will at least give you a basis for your plan. I advise you to consult a Physics professor to help you understand the math.
Good luck!
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If you are already familiar (and comfortable) with
then 6DoF Rigid Body Dynamics is what you are looking for. It's a brief article written [disclaimer: by me] when I once had to develop a helicopter flight simulator.
Using a rotation matrix allows for extremely simple modelling equations, but there exists a simple mapping to and from a quaternion if you prefer that representation for other reasons.
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