P. Axelrad, D.

Lawrence ASEN3200 Spring 2006

ATTITUDE REPRESENTATION
Attitude cannot be represented by vector in 3-dimensional space, like
position or angular velocity, even though attitude is a 3-dimensional
quantity.
Attitude is always specified as a rotation relative to a base, or reference
frame, just as vector position is specified as a displacement from a
reference point. However there is often confusion in the direction:
Rotation of the body frame to align with the reference frame
Rotation of the reference frame to align with the body frame
Rotations are described by various means
Direction Cosines Matrix (DCM)
Euler Angles
Euler Axis/Angle
Quaternion
Rodriquez parameters, Gibbs vector, etc.
P. Axelrad, D. Lawrence ASEN3200 Spring 2006
DIRECTION COSINES MATRIX
The DCM transforms a vector representation from one coordinate frame to
another, or rotates vectors from one attitude to another.


The DCM can be formed by dot products of unit vectors of two frames





Note that if we set A=1 and B=2,

The nine elements are not independent because the DCM must be orthonormal

| | | | | | | | | | | |
1
2 1
2

A
B B A A A
r T r or r R r = =
| | | |
2 1 2 1 2 1
1
2 1 2 1 2 1
2
2 1 2 1 2 1

B A B A B A
A
B A B A B A
B
B A B A B A
i i i j i k i i j i k i
T j i j j j k or R i j j j k j
k i k j k k i k j k k k

( (
( (
= = ( (
( (
( (

| | | | | | | |
=
A B B A
B A A B
T T T T = I
| | | |
( )
1
2
T
A
B
T R =
P. Axelrad, D. Lawrence ASEN3200 Spring 2006
EULER ANGLES
Euler Angles are a particular sequence of three rotations about particular
reference frame axes. Both the sequence and the axes must be
specified to clearly define the attitude (rotation) of interest.
The same angle values used in a different sequence, or about different
axes, results in a different attitude
Example: Yaw-Pitch-Roll Euler angle sequence rotating the reference
frame (call it frame 1) into the body frame:
1) - Yaw the reference frame about its k-axis with angle to
produce the 2-frame
2) - Pitch about the new j-axis with angle u to produce the 3-frame
3) - Roll about the new i-axis with angle | to produce the body
frame B
The resulting rotation matrix rotating 1-frame vectors v into their
corresponding body frame position is given by

| | | | | | | | | | | | | |
1 1 3 2 1
B 1
1 1 3 2
v = R v where R ( ) ( ) ( )
B B B
R R R | u =
EULER ANGLE EXAMPLE
i
2
Reference Frame is Frame 1
yaw
i
1
j
1
k
1
,k
2
j
2
i
3
pitch
j
2
,j
3
i
2
k
3
k
2
Body frame is Frame B
roll
j
3
k
3
i
3
,i
B
k
B j
B
Rotate about k
1 Rotate about j
2
Rotate about i
3
Yaw,Pitch,Roll (k,j,i) Sequence
(angle )

(angle u)

(angle |)

P. Axelrad, D. Lawrence ASEN3200 Spring 2006
DCMs FOR GENERAL EULER ROTATIONS
( )
1
2
1 0 0
0
0
R c s
s c
u u u
u u
(
(
( = (

(
(

( )
1
2
0
0 1 0
0
c s
R
s c
u u
u
u u
(
(
( = (

(
(

( )
1
2
0
0
0 0 1
c s
R s c
u u
u u u

(
(
( = (

(
(

u
j
k
i

u
j
k
i

u
j
k
i

1
2
1
2
2
1
P. Axelrad, D. Lawrence ASEN3200 Spring 2006
Transformation Matrix for Euler Yaw,Pitch,Roll (k,j,i)
( )
1
321
, ,
B
c c c s s
R c s s s c c c s s s s c
s s c s c s c c s s c c
u u u
u | | | u | | u | u
| | u | | u | u

(
(
( = + (

(
( +

P. Axelrad, D. Lawrence ASEN3200 Spring 2006
EULERS THEOREM (EULER AXIS/ANGLE REP.)
Any rigid body rotation can be expressed by a single rotation about a
fixed axis.

The rotation matrix [R] is given in terms of a unit vector along the Euler
axis e (a unit vector), and the angle, u

( ) ( ) | | | |
1
1
1 1
2
, cos + 1-cos e e sin [[ ] ]
T
R n I e u u u u ( =

e
u
Shuster, M., "Survey of Attitude Representations," Journal of Astronautical Sciences, Vol. 41, No. 4, Oct.-Dec. 1993. pp. 439-517.
| |
( )
| |
1
1
2
2
23 32
31 13
1
12 21
cos R 1
1
2sin
tr
R R
e R R
R R
u
u
=

(
(

= (
(
(

P. Axelrad, D. Lawrence ASEN3200 Spring 2006
NOTATION
Vector Dot Product

Vector Cross Product

Cross Product Matrix for vector






cu = cos(u) su = sin(u)
| |
1 1 2 2 3 3
T
B
B
r b r b rb r b r b ( = = + +

| |
3 2 1
3 1 2
2 1 3
0
[[ ] ] 0
0
B
B
b b b
b b b where b b
b b b

( (
( (
=
( (
( (

| |
[[ ] ]
B
B
B
r b b r ( =

P. Axelrad, D. Lawrence ASEN3200 Spring 2006
QUATERNION REPRESENTATION OF ATTITUDE
Only one redundant element
requiring use of a constraint | q | = 1
Only ambiguity is a sign
Can be combined easily to produce
successive rotations
DCM computation given by multiply
& add of quaternion elements (no
trig functions)
Propagation requires integration of
only 4 kinematic equations
Widely used because of simplicity of
operations and small dimension,
together with lack of representation
singularity

Shuster, M., "Survey of Attitude Representations," Journal of the Astronautical Sciences, Vol. 41, No. 4, Oct.-Dec. 1993. pp. 439-517.
1
2
3
4
q
q
q
q
q
(
(
(
(
(
(
(

P. Axelrad, D. Lawrence ASEN3200 Spring 2006
QUATERNION REPRESENTATION
1
1
2
2 4
3
3
4
2
2
4
sin , cos ,
2 2
1 ( must be constrained to unit length)
q
q
q
q q e q q
q
q
q
q q q
u u
(
( (
( (
= ( (
( (
( (

(

+ =
Given Euler Axis e and angle u
P. Axelrad, D. Lawrence ASEN3200 Spring 2006
Quaternion versus Rotation Matrix (DCM_
( )
( ) ( )
( ) ( )
( ) ( )
( )
2 2 2 2
1 2 3 4 1 2 4 3 1 3 4 2
2 2 2 2
1 2 4 3 1 2 3 4 2 3 4 1
2 2 2 2
3 1 4 2 3 2 4 1 1 2 3 4
4 4
1
2
2
4 4 4
2
23 32
4
2 2
( ) 2 2
2 2
4
R( , ) 2 2 [[ ]]
1
1, 1 ,
2
1
4
T
q q q q q q q q q q q q
R q q q q q q q q q q q q q
q q q q q q q q q q q q
trR q q
q
q q q q I q q q q
trR
R R
q
+
= + +
+ +
=
= +
(
+
(
(
+
(
(
+

= +

=
( ) ( )
2 3 31 13 12 21
4 4
1 1
, ,
4 4
q q R R R R
q q

= =
P. Axelrad, D. Lawrence ASEN3200 Spring 2006
Quaternion Composition (Successive Rotations)
| | | | | |
| | | |
{ }
| |
| | { }
3 2 1
3 1 2
4 3 2 1
3 4 1 2
2 1 4 3
1 2 3 4
(Note the swapped order)

A B A
C C B
A B A
C C B
A A B
C B C
R R R
q q q
q q q
q q q q
q q q q
q
q q q q
q q q q
=
=
=

(
(
(
(
(
(
(


P. Axelrad, D. Lawrence ASEN3200 Spring 2006
Kinematics
| |
| | ( )
| |
4 3 2
1
3 4 1
2
2 1 4
3
1 2 3
( )
= ( ) [[ ]]
( ) ( ) ( )
( )
( ) ( ) ( )
( )
1
= ( )
2
( ) ( ) ( )
( )
( ) ( ) ( )
d R t
R t t
dt
q t q t q t
t
q t q t q t
d q t
t
dt
q t q t q t
t
q t q t q t
e
e
e
e

(
( (
( (
( (
( (
( (

(

Relationship between angular velocity and attitude representations
P. Axelrad, D. Lawrence ASEN3200 Spring 2006
SMALL ANGLE APPROXIMATIONS
For a small angles ou, sin(ou) ~ ou , cos(ou) ~ 1
The rotation DCM for a sequence of three small Euler angles is:

| |
3 2
3 1
2 1
1
[[ ]] 1
1
R I
ou ou
o ou ou ou
ou ou

(
~ (
(

P. Axelrad, D. Lawrence ASEN3200 Spring 2006
ATTITUDE DETERMINATION PROBLEM
Use standard attitude sensors such as a star tracker or sun sensor
Sensor axes are calibrated with respect to body-fixed reference frame
(B)
Direction to reference object (sun or star) is found in an inertial frame (I)
using star catalog, ephemeris prediction, etc.
Direction to reference object is also measured by the on-board sensors
and expressed in the (B) frame.
Now have one or more unit vectors to objects expressed in both (I) and
in (B). Note that a minimum of 2 independent objects is required to
determine 3-D attitude
Calculate the attitude DCM


P. Axelrad, D. Lawrence ASEN3200 Spring 2006
ATTITUDE DETERMINATION PROBLEM
Given measurements of two unit vectors (pointing to two objects) in a
body frame and a reference frame


How can the DCM representing attitude be determined? T must
simultaneously satisfy


Deterministic method - TRIAD
Use two of the measured vectors to define a set of three orthogonal
unit vectors in the two frames.
Create a matrix equation from the three vector equations and use
this to solve for the attitude DCM

| | | | | | | | | | | |
1 1 2 2
A A
B B A B B A
v T v and v T v = =
| | | | | | | |
1 1 2 2
, , ,
A B A B
v v v v
P. Axelrad, D. Lawrence ASEN3200 Spring 2006
DETERMINISTIC ATTITUDE DETERMINATION


| |
| | | |
| | | |
| |
| | | |
| | | |
1 2
1 1 2 3 1 2
1 2
1 2
1 1 2 3 1 2
1 2
Construct , ,

, ,
A A
A
A A
B B
B
B B
v v
r v r r r r
v v
v v
s v s s s s
v v

= = =

= = =

| | | | | | | |
1 1 2 2
Given unit vectors , , ,
A B A B
v v v v
| | | |
| |
1 2 3 1 2 3

R s
A
T
s R
B
M r r r M s s s
T M M

=
Transformation DCM estimate
(note rotation DCM is the
transpose of this)
| |
A
B
R
P. Axelrad, D. Lawrence ASEN3200 Spring 2006
Attitude Representations and Attitude Determination
REFERENCES
Shuster, M., "Survey of Attitude Representations," Journal of the
Astronautical Sciences, Vol. 41, No. 4, Oct.-Dec. 1993. pp. 439-517.
Shuster, M. D. and Oh, S. D., "Three-Axis Attitude Determination from
Vector Observations," Journal of Guidance and Control, Vol. 4, No. 1,
Jan.-Feb. 1981, pp. 70-77.
Wertz, J. R., ed. Spacecraft Attitude Determination and Control, Kluwer
Academic Publishers, Dordrecht, Netherlands, 1978.