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Aron Wolf Pila

Introduction
To Lagrangian
Dynamics
Introduction To Lagrangian Dynamics
Aron Wolf Pila

Introduction To Lagrangian
Dynamics

123
Aron Wolf Pila
10 Hatechiyah Street, apt. 2
Kfar Saba, Israel

ISBN 978-3-030-22377-9 ISBN 978-3-030-22378-6 (eBook)

https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-22378-6

© Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2020

This work is subject to copyright. All rights are reserved by the Publisher, whether the whole or part of
the material is concerned, specifically the rights of translation, reprinting, reuse of illustrations, recitation,
broadcasting, reproduction on microfilms or in any other physical way, and transmission or information
storage and retrieval, electronic adaptation, computer software, or by similar or dissimilar methodology
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The use of general descriptive names, registered names, trademarks, service marks, etc. in this publication
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Preface

This volume was intended as a short summary of the essentials of Lagrangian

dynamics for undergraduate students of physics and engineering. A number of
topics have been included in order to make the presentation compact, succinct, as
well as comprehensive. The topics include:
(a) A Review of Classical Mechanics
(b) Holonomic and Non-holonomic Systems
(c) Virtual Work
(d) The Principle of D’Alembert for Dynamical Systems
(e) The Mathematics of Conservative Forces
(f) The Extended Hamilton’s Principle
(g) Lagrange’s Equations and Lagrangian Dynamics
(h) A Systematic Procedure for Generalized Forces
(i) Quasi-coordinates and Quasi-velocities
(j) Lagrangian Dynamics with Quasi-coordinates
(k) Lagrangian Dynamics with Quasi-coordinates-Prof. Ranjan Vepa’s Approach
An ample number of examples have been included which demonstrate the tech-
niques involved.

v
Dedication

This volume is dedicated to my wife, Leah, for the patience, understanding, and love
she has shown me from the day we first met. She’s been an inspiration and guiding
light throughout my life and, my working career and into our retirement years.

vii
Contents

1 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
1.1 Introductory Remarks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
1.2 Direction Cosines and Euler Angles of Rotation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
2 Lagrangian Dynamics: Preliminaries. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
2.1 Angular Velocity of a Body and Linear Velocity of a Typical
Particle Within That Body. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
2.2 Angular Velocity of a Body and Linear Velocity of a Typical
Particle Within the Body: Examples . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
2.3 Most General Form of Kinetic Energy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
2.4 Summary: Important Points Regarding Kinetic Energy . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
2.5 Examples: Kinetic Energy and Equations of Motion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
2.6 Notation System Used in This Book . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31
2.7 Angular Momentum of a Mass Particle . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33
2.8 Rigid Body Angular Momentum . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37
2.9 Linear and Angular Momenta and Their Derivatives . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39
2.10 Work and Calculation of Kinetic and Potential Energies . . . . . . . . . . . . 40
2.11 Systems of Particles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45
2.12 Principle of Work and Energy for a Rigid Body . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51
2.13 Angular Momentum of a Rigid Body in Three Dimensions . . . . . . . . . 56
3 Lagrangian Dynamics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63
3.1 Definitions Required for the Study of Lagrangian Dynamics . . . . . . . 64
3.2 Summary: Holonomic and Non-holonomic Systems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71
3.3 Virtual Work for Static Systems Only . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75
3.4 The Principle of d’Alembert for Dynamical Systems. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77
3.5 The Mathematics of Conservative Forces . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 78
3.6 The Extended Hamilton’s Principle. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 80
3.7 Lagrange’s Equations and Lagrangian Dynamics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 82
3.8 Recap: Writing d’Alembert–Lagrangian Dynamics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 103
3.9 Lagrange Multipliers for Constrained Systems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 118
3.10 A Systematic Procedure for Generalized Forces . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 123

ix
x Contents

3.11 Practice Finding Equations of Motion—D’Alembert–Lagrange . . . . 139

3.12 A Note on Equivalent Forces and Torques . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 144
3.13 Lagrangians, Hamiltonians, and the Legendre Transformation . . . . . 151
4 Quasi-Coordinates and Quasi-Velocities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 163
4.1 Definitions and Recapitulation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 164
4.2 Quasi-Coordinates and Quasi-Velocities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 167
4.3 Lagrangian Dynamics with Quasi-Coordinates . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 177
4.4 Lagrangian Dynamics with Quasi-Coordinates: Prof. Ranjan
Vepa’s Approach . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 199
4.5 Lagrangian Dynamics in Quasi-Coordinates—Vepa’s
Approach—Origin Not at Mass Center . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 215
5 Conclusions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 247

Bibliography . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 249

Index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 253
List of Figures

Fig. 1.1 Definition of direction cosines l, m, n . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3

Fig. 1.2 Body translating and rotating, while X, Y, Z frame rotates
about O relative to the body . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
Fig. 1.3 Sketch of body, fixed at O, but free to rotate in any manner
about this point . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
Fig. 2.1 Body translating and rotating, while X, Y, Z frame rotates
about O relative to the body . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
Fig. 2.2 Illustration of the treatment of the angular velocity of a body
and linear velocity of a typical mass particle. (a) Side view.
(b) Top view . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
Fig. 2.3 Another example of the treatment of the angular velocity of
a body and linear velocity of a typical mass particle . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
Fig. 2.4 Definition of velocities vox , voy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
Fig. 2.5 Physical pendulum consisting of a lamina pivoted at p with
the origin of the X, Y coordinates defined at three different
locations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
Fig. 2.6 Lamina with two applied forces—Lagrange’s equations . . . . . . . . . . . 25
Fig. 2.7 Double “pendulum” . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
Fig. 2.8 Definition of potential V and generalized forces Fθ , Fφ . . . . . . . . . . . 29
Fig. 2.9 Rotating slender rod . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30
Fig. 2.10 Illustration of notation systems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32
Fig. 2.11 Illustration of linear momentum PB/O . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34
Fig. 2.12 Two link robot . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35
Fig. 2.13 Carnival ride problem . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38
Fig. 2.14 Motion of a particle with mass m subject to a force F and
traveling along the curved path from point A1 to point A2 . . . . . . . . 42
Fig. 2.15 Motion of a pendulum bob . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44
Fig. 2.16 Internal forces cancel each other out . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46

xi
xii List of Figures

Fig. 2.17 Small displacements dr and dr  of the two particles differ

but the components of these displacements along A − B are
equal—no net internal forces . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52
Fig. 2.18 Work done by couple M = dU = F ds2 = F rdθ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53
Fig. 2.19 Rigid body in plane motion—kinetic energy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54
Fig. 2.20 Rigid body in plane motion—noncentroidal rotation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55
Fig. 2.21 Rigid body angular momentum in three dimensions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56
Fig. 2.22 Rigid body angular momentum in three dimensions about a
point O . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59
Fig. 2.23 Kinetic energy of a rigid body in three dimensions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60
Fig. 3.1 A spherical pendulum whose length L may or may not vary . . . . . . 65
Fig. 3.2 A particle moving on a smooth surface . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66
Fig. 3.3 Generic vehicle . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 68
Fig. 3.4 Double pendulum system . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70
Fig. 3.5 Non-holonomic system—# of degrees of freedom ≤ #
coord. needed to fully determine position of the ball . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70
Fig. 3.6 Wheel rolling without slipping on a curved path—classic
example of a non-holonomic system . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73
Fig. 3.7 Mass–spring system . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 86
Fig. 3.8 Two degrees of freedom system composed of springs and
masses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 88
Fig. 3.9 Single and double pendulums . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 89
Fig. 3.10 Schematic diagram of a quadcopter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 94
Fig. 3.11 Mass–spring dashpot (damper) single degree of freedom
system . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 106
Fig. 3.12 Pendulum with a moveable mass and spring . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 108
Fig. 3.13 Pendulum with a moveable mass and spring—geometrical
definitions I . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 109
Fig. 3.14 Pendulum with a moveable mass and spring-geometrical
definitions II . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 109
Fig. 3.15 Cart with spring and pendulum . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 114
Fig. 3.16 Cart with spring, damper, and pendulum . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 117
Fig. 3.17 Cart with spring, damper, and pendulum-geometrical
considerations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 117
Fig. 3.18 System used to demonstrate the virtual work principle . . . . . . . . . . . . 122
Fig. 3.19 3D rigid body with n generalized coordinates acted upon by
N non-conservative forces . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 124
Fig. 3.20 Generalized forces acting on a double pendulum . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 125
Fig. 3.21 Another example for the calculation of torques and kinetic
energy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 127
Fig. 3.22 Spring and mass on inclined face of moving cart . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 130
Fig. 3.23 Two carts connected by a spring . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 135
Fig. 3.24 Pendulum with a mass and spring—continued . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 137
Fig. 3.25 Puck sliding on a horizontal frictionless plane . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 140
List of Figures xiii

Fig. 3.26 Generalized forces for sliding puck problem—I . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 142

Fig. 3.27 Geometry for equivalent forces and torques . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 144
Fig. 3.28 Generalized forces for hockey puck problem—II . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 145
Fig. 3.29 Pendulum with a plane of symmetry . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 147
Fig. 3.30 Atwood’s machine . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 148
Fig. 3.31 Falling stick problem . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 150
Fig. 3.32 Strictly convex function used in the derivation of a simple
legendre transformation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 153
Fig. 4.1 Tricycle geometry and notation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 187
Fig. 4.2 Geometry for velocities perpendicular to both front and rear
wheels . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 188
Fig. 4.3 Time derivative of a rotation matrix—small angle rotations . . . . . . . 203
Fig. 4.4 Velocity of point P with respect to center of mass point C . . . . . . . . 226
List of Symbols

l, m, n Direction cosines
αij , i = 1, 2, 3 , j = Direction cosines
1, 2, 3
i1 , i2 , i3 Orthogonal unit vectors for stationary X1 , Y1 , Z1 axes
[xea , yea , zea ]T Position vector in inertial coordinates
[xb , yb , zb ]T Position vector in rotating body coordinates
X1 , Y1 , Z1 x, y, z axes of inertial coordinate system
X, Y, Z X, Y, Z axes of translating and rotating coordinates
X , Y  , Z  x, y, z axes of nonrotating coordinate system
vx , vy , vz Instantaneous velocities along X, Y, Z directions
x, y, z Coordinates of m along X, Y, Z directions
m Mass of an elemental particle
dm Mass of an infinitesimal particle
M Total system mass
ω Angular rotation rate vector wrt inertial frame
ωx , ωy , ωz Angular rates about X, Y, Z axes
T Kinetic energy
V Potential energy
Ix , Iy , Iz Principal moments of inertia about X, Y, Z axes
Ixy Product of inertia relative to the X − Y axis
Ixz Product of inertia relative to the X − Z axis
Iyz Product of inertia relative to the Y − Z axis
x X axis distance from any origin point to c.g.
y Y axis distance from any origin point to c.g.
z Z axis distance from any origin point to c.g.
vox , voy , voz Velocities of origin in X, Y, Z direction
Fθ = −∂V /∂θ Generalized force derived from V (θ, φ)
Fφ = −∂V /∂φ Generalized force derived from V (θ, φ)
L=T −V Lagrangian
ρ Mass distribution per unit length
RB/O Position vector of point B wrt O

xv
xvi List of Symbols

RB/A Position vector of point B wrt A

ω/O , ωO Rotation of rigid body wrt O
O Origin of inertial coordinate system
PB/O Particle linear momentum at point B wrt O
hB/O Particle angular momentum at point B wrt O
hB/A Particle angular momentum at point B wrt A
τB/A Torque at point B wrt A
τ/G Torque wrt c.g.
ḢG Rigid body angular momentum rate wrt c.g.
τ/A Torque wrt point A
vB/O Velocity of point B wrt O
vA/O Velocity of point A wrt O
FB Sum of all the forces at point B
ḢA Rigid body angular momentum rate wrt point A
PG/O Rigid body angular momentum of c.g. wrt point O
êθ Polar coordinates, unit vector in θ direction
êr Polar coordinates, unit vector in r direction
L = mv Linear momentum
L̇ = ma Force
HO = r × mv Angular momentum
ḢO = r × ma Moment or torque
U Work
U1→2 Work performed over path A1 → A2
dr Infinitesimal distance vector
k Spring constant—Nt/m
Ft Force tangential to curved trajectory
at Acceleration tangential to curved trajectory
T Kinetic energy
V Potential energy
g Acceleration due to gravity
E =T +V Total mechanical energy = kinetic + potential energy
ri Position of mi at point Pi wrt axes Gx  y  z
vi Velocity of mi at point Pi wrt axes Gx  y  z
ai Acceleration of mi at point Pi wrt axes Gx  y  z
ai Acceleration of mi at point Pi wrt inertial axes Oxyz
a Acceleration of c.g wrt inertial axes Oxyz
HG Angular momentum of system of particles about
mass center G
HG Angular momentum of system of particles about origin
of inertial coordinates Oxyz
MGi Moment of mass mi about axes Gx  y  z
I Moment of inertia of the rigid body about the axis
of rotation
Gxyz Nonrotating centroidal axes || inertial axes
HG Angular moment of inertia wrt Gxyz frame
List of Symbols xvii

Hx x axis component of HG wrt Gxyz frame

Hy y axis component of HG wrt Gxyz frame
Hz z axis component of HG wrt Gxyz frame
f (x, y, z, t) = 0 Shape function or constraint equation
n Number of degrees of freedom
m Number of holonomic constraints
p =n−m No. dof—no. of holonomic constraints
dof Degrees of freedom
aj e Constraint coefficient
N Number of rigid bodies in the plane
3N No. of degrees of freedom of N rigid bodies in the
plane without constraints
k No. of holonomic constraints of N rigid bodies
in the plane
d = 3N − k Resulting no. of degrees of freedom of N rigid
bodies in the plane
f (q1 , q2 , . . .) = 0 Constraint equation for holonomic system
f (q1 , q2 , . . . , qn , q̇1 , q̇2 , Non-holonomic constraint equation
. . . , q̇n , ) = 0
n
e=1 aj e dqe + aj t dt = Non-holonomic constraint equation in Pfaffian form
0
δW Virtual work
Ri ith Resultant force
Fi ith Applied force
fi ith Constraint force
NC
δW Virtual work due to non-conservative forces
δW C Virtual work due to conservative forces
δT Variation of kinetic energy
δL Variation of Lagrangian
δT Variation in kinetic energy
δV Variation in potential energy
Qk Generalized non-conservative force
δk Virtual displacement of generalized coordinate
τmi Torque due to ith motor and rotor
P Electric motor power
vh Quadrotor hover velocity
A Rotor disk area
D Drag force
ω Rotor speed
τdragi Torque due to blade profile drag on ith motor and rotor
J Inertia matrix of quadcopter’s rotational kinetic energy
U Quadcopter’s potential energy
ξ̇ Quadcopter’s inertial linear velocities
mquad Quadcopter’s total mass
xviii List of Symbols

τψ Quadcopter’s torque in ψ direction

τφ Quadcopter’s torque in φ direction
τθ Quadcopter’s torque in θ direction
η Vector of generalized Euler angle coordinates
V̂ (η, η̇) “Coriolis-centripetal” vector
τ̃ Vector of torques in inertial coordinates
τ̃φ Torques in inertial coordinates: φ direction
τ̃ψ Torques in inertial coordinates: ψ direction
τ̃θ Torques in inertial coordinates: θ direction
δj Virtual displacement in j direction
L0 Un-stretched length of spring
1
L2 2 length of metal sleeve
x1 Length from pivot point A to c.g of metal sleeve
Δh Height differences for potential energy calculations
L1 1
2 2 length of rod
Trot−rod Rotational kinetic energy of the rod
Trot−sleeve Rotational kinetic energy of the sleeve
f (q1 , q2 , . . . , qn ) = 0 Holonomic constraint equation
δqi Variation of qi
λ(t) Lagrange multiplier
λj (t) j th Lagrange multiplier
Q Generalized constraint forces
Qk kth generalized constraint force
δW N C Virtual work of all non-conservative forces
Qj j th generalized force
Qθ Generalized force in generalized θ dir’n
 x , Qy
Q Generalized force in generalized x, y dir’n
Integral over a closed path
Fc Conservative force
F NC Non-conservative force
V (r) Potential energy as a function of position r
H Hamiltonian function
pi
 Generalized momentum
n
=0
e=1 ale δqe Non-holonomic constraint equation
λl  Lagrange multiplier

Qe = m l=1 λl ale Generalized constraint forces

Qe = Qe + Qe Generalized forces and constraint forces
γj Quasi-coordinate
γ̇j Quasi-velocity
q̇j Generalized velocity
Θij Coefficients of the generalized coordinates qk
[ϑ]
  Matrix of Θij elements
ϑ̇ Matrix of Θ̇ij elements
 
Γ˙ Vector of quasi-velocities γ̇j ’s
List of Symbols xix

[β]T = [ϑ]−1 Inverse of [ϑ]

{q̇} Vector of generalized velocities
T (q; q̇) Standard kinetic energy
T̄ ˙ Modified kinetic energy
 (q; Γ )
∂T
Vector: coefficients of k.e. wrt generalized velocities
 ∂ q̇
∂T
∂q Vector: coefficients of k.e. wrt generalized coordinates
∂T
∂ q̇k Coefficient of k.e. wrt q̇k
∂T
Coefficient of k.e. wrt qk
∂qk
∂ T̄
∂ Γ˙
Vector: coefficients of modified k.e. wrt generalized
velocities
∂ϑ
∂qk Matrix of partial derivatives of Θij , i, j, = 1, 2, . . . , n
wrt qk
wx , wy , wz Angular rates in body coordinates
v, vY i , vR Tricycle’s forward velocity, rear and front wheel
lateral velocities
Ṫa/b (t) Time derivative of a rotation matrix
ṪI /B (t) Body to inertial rotation matrix rate
Δθ, Δψ, Δφ Infinitesimal angles θ ψ, φ
Φ Vector with [φ, θ, ψ]T
Irotor Quad copter motor and rotor blade moment of inertia
CD Aerodynamic blade profile drag coefficient
Chapter 1
Introduction

Joseph Louis Lagrange was one of the greatest mathematicians of the eighteenth
and early nineteenth centuries and he has left a remarkable legacy in both the fields
of physics and mathematics. This volume begins by recounting the biographical
highlights of his life and his contributions.
In the present chapter one of the cornerstones of the book in the form of
the direction cosines and their relationship to the Euler angles is presented and
elaborated upon. The direction cosines play an important role in the approach by
Prof. Ranjan Vepa and are used extensively in Chap. 4.

1.1 Introductory Remarks

Joseph Louis Lagrange, originally Giuseppe Lodovico Lagrangia, was of

French and Italian descent and was born in Turin in 1736 (see Rouse Ball
[30, pp. 330–339]). Lagrange had originally intended to study law but while at
college in Turin, he came across a tract by Halley which roused his enthusiasm
for the analytical method. He thereupon applied himself to mathematics, and in
his 17th year he became professor of mathematics in the royal military academy
at Turin. Without assistance or guidance he entered upon a course of study which
in 2 years placed him on a level with the greatest of his contemporaries. With the
aid of his pupils he established a society which subsequently developed into the
Turin Academy. Most of his earlier papers appear in the first five volumes of its
transactions. At the age of 19 he communicated a general method of dealing with
“isoperimetrical problems,” known now as the calculus of variations to Euler. This
commanded Euler’s admiration, and the latter, for a time, courteously withheld
some researches of his own on this subject from publication, so that the youthful
Lagrange might complete his investigations and lay claim to being the first to posit
the calculus of variations. Lagrange did quite as much as Euler towards the creation

© Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2020 1

A. W. Pila, Introduction To Lagrangian Dynamics,
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-22378-6_1
2 1 Introduction

of the calculus of variations. The subject, as developed by Euler lacked an analytic

foundation, and this Lagrange supplied. He separated the principles of this calculus
from geometric considerations by which his predecessor had derived them. Euler
had assumed as fixed, the limits of the integral, i.e. the extremities of the curve to
be determined, but Lagrange removed this restriction and allowed all co-ordinates
of the curve to vary at the same time. In 1766 Euler introduced the name “calculus
of variations,” and did much to improve this science along the lines marked out by
Lagrange.
In the year 1766, Euler left Berlin for St. Petersburg, and he pointed to Lagrange
as being the only man capable of filling his place. D’Alembert recommended him
at the same time. Frederick the Great thereupon sent a message to Turin, expressing
the wish of “the greatest king of Europe” to have “the greatest mathematician” at his
court. Lagrange went to Berlin, and remained there for 20 years. Frederick the Great
held him in high esteem, and frequently conversed with him on the advantages of
perfect regularity of life. This led Lagrange to cultivate regular habits. He worked
no longer each day than experience taught him he could, without breaking down.
His papers were carefully thought out before he began writing, and when he wrote
he did so without a single correction. During the 20 years in Berlin he crowded the
transactions of the Berlin Academy with memoirs, and also wrote the epoch-making
work called the Mécanique Analytique. The approach used by Lagrange will be the
subject matter of this volume and will be presented in the subsequent chapters.
Newton’s laws were formulated for a single particle and can be extended to
systems of particles and rigid bodies. The equations of motion are expressed in
terms of physical coordinates and forces, both quantities conveniently represented
by vectors. For this reason, Newtonian mechanics is often referred to as vectorial
mechanics. The main drawback of Newtonian mechanics is that it requires one free-
body diagram for each of the masses in the system, thus necessitating the inclusion
of reaction forces, the latter resulting from kinematical constraints ensuring that
the individual bodies act together as a system. These reaction and constraint
forces play the role of unknowns, which makes it necessary to work with a
surplus of equations of motion, one additional equation for every unknown force.
J.L. Lagrange reformulated Newton’s Laws in a way that eliminates the need to
calculate forces on isolated parts of a mechanical system. A different approach to
mechanics, referred to as analytical mechanics, or analytical dynamics, considers
the system as a whole, rather than the individual components separately, a process
that excludes the reaction and constraint forces automatically. This approach, due
to Lagrange, permits the formulation of problems of dynamics in terms of two
scalar functions, the kinetic energy and the potential energy, and an infinitesimal
expression, the virtual work performed by the non-conservative forces. Analytical
mechanics represents a broader and more abstract approach, as the equations of
motion are formulated in terms of generalized coordinates and generalized forces,
which are not necessarily physical coordinates and forces, although in certain cases
they can be chosen as such. Any convenient set of variables obeying the constraints
on a system can be used to describe the motion. In this manner, the mathematical
formulation is rendered independent of any special system of coordinates. There are
1.2 Direction Cosines and Euler Angles of Rotation 3

only as many equations to solve as there are physically significant variables (see
Meirovitch [24, pp. 262–263]).

1.2 Direction Cosines and Euler Angles of Rotation

The relationship between direction cosines and Euler angles is presented as

background material to be used in the subsequent portions of this text. This chapter
has been adopted from Wells [51, pp. 139–141 and Appendix A, pp. 343–344]. The
direction cosines l, m, n of line Ob, relative to axes X, Y, Z are just l = x/r, m =
y/r, n = z/r, where x, y, z are the X, Y, Z coordinates of the tip of r, where
r = (x 2 + y 2 + z2 ) (see Fig. 1.1). It then follows that (x 2 + y 2 + z2 )/r 2 =
(x 2 + y 2 + z2 )/(x 2 + y 2 + z2 ) = 1.
Assuming that coordinates X1 , Y1 , Z1 form an inertial coordinate frame, while
coordinates X, Y, Z are attached to a translating and rotating body, the angles
between the X coordinate and coordinates X1 , Y1 , Z1 are θ11 , θ12 , θ13 , respectively.
Hence the direction cosines between coordinate X and coordinates X1 , Y1 , Z1 are
α11 = cos θ11 , α12 = cos θ12 , α13 = cos θ13 , respectively (see Fig. 1.2). The same
relationships between the X coordinate and coordinates X1 , Y1 , Z1 exist as for line
Ob, that is:
2
α11 + α12
2
+ α13
2
=1 (1.1)

We can similarly show that the direction cosines between coordinate Y and
X1 , Y1 , Z1 , that is α21 , α22 , α23 and between coordinate Z and X1 , Y1 , Z1 , that is

Fig. 1.1 Definition of direction cosines l, m, n

4 1 Introduction

Fig. 1.2 Body translating and rotating, while X, Y, Z frame rotates about O relative to the body

Fig. 1.3 Sketch of body, fixed at O, but free to rotate in any manner about this point

α31 , α32 , α33 , respectively, obey the same relationship as in Eq. 1.1 or:
2
α21 + α22
2
+ α23
2
= 1; α31
2
+ α32
2
+ α33
2
=1 (1.2)

Consider that the body in Fig. 1.3 is fixed at O, but is free to rotate in an arbitrary and
random fashion about this point. All quantities under consideration will be measured
relative to the fixed inertial axis system X, Y, Z. At a given instant of time, the
body is undergoing rotation about some line Oa with an angular velocity of ω. As
a consequence of this rotation, the mass particle m possesses a linear velocity v
1.2 Direction Cosines and Euler Angles of Rotation 5

normal to the Oa − m plane, of magnitude v = ωh, where h is the normal distance

from m to the rotating Oa axis. The axis of rotation Oa has direction cosines with
respect to the fixed coordinate system X, Y, Z of l, m, n, respectively. Similarly,
the velocity vector v has direction cosines α1 , α2 , α3 with respect to the X, Y, Z
axes and its components along the X, Y, Z axes are, respectively, vx , vy , and vz .
From the discussion related to Fig. 1.1 above, it follows that: α1 = vx /v, α2 =
vy /v, α3 = vz /v. Similarly, ω is also composed of components along the X, Y, Z
axes, that is: ω = [ωx , ωy , ωz ]. The direction cosines may then be shown to be:
l = ωx /ω, m = ωy /ω, n = ωz /ω. Recall that ω is directed along the line Oa.
Now the velocity of the mass particle m may be written in the form: v = ω × r,
where r = x î + y jˆ + zk̂ and ω = ωx î + ωy jˆ + ωz k̂. Performing the above vector
multiplication results in:

vx = ωy z − ωz y; vy = ωz x − ωx z; vz = ωx y − ωy x (1.3)

However, α1 = vx /v = vx /ωh. This implies that:

ωy z − ωz y ωy z ωz y mz − ny
α1 = = − = (1.4)
ωh ωh ωh h
due to the fact that l = ωx /ω , m = ωy /ω, and n = ωz /ω. Hence the direction
cosines α1 , α2 , and α3 may be written as:

ωy z − ωz y ωy z ωz y mz − ny
α1 = vx /v = = − =
ωh ωh ωh h
ωz x − ωx z ωz x ωx z nx − lz
α2 = vy /v = = − =
ωh ωh ωh h
ωx y − ωy x ωx y ωy x ly − mx
α3 = vz /v = = − = (1.5)
ωh ωh ωh h
The body in Fig. 1.2 is assumed to be rotating and translating with respect to the
inertial coordinate frame X1 , Y1 , Z1 . The X, Y, Z coordinate system, with its origin
attached to the rigid body, at O, rotates in a random fashion relative to the body. The
X , Y  , Z  axes whose origin is also located at O remain parallel to the inertial axes
X1 , Y1 , Z1 . The coordinates of m with respect to the X, Y, Z and X , Y  , Z  axes,
respectively, are: x, y, z and x  , y  , z .
Letting ω represent the angular velocity of the body while u stands for the linear
velocity of m , each measured relative to X , Y  , Z  , the components of the vectors
ω and u, along the X , Y  , Z  axes are designated as ωx , ωy , ωz and ux , uy , uz ,
respectively. Then akin to the fact established earlier that vx = ωy z − ωz y; vy =
ωz x −ωx z; vz = ωx y −ωy x, we have: ux = ωy z −ωz y  ; uy = ωz x  −ωx z ; uz =
ωx y  − ωy x  . Allowing ux , uy , uz to be the components of u along the momentary
positions of the X, Y, Z axis frame, we can write:
6 1 Introduction

ux = ux α11 + uy α12 + uz α13

uy = ux α21 + uy α22 + uz α23
uz = ux α31 + uy α32 + uz α33 (1.6)

where α11 , α12 , α13 are the direction cosines of X relative to X , Y  , Z  ,

α21 , α22 , α23 are the direction cosines of Y relative to X , Y  , Z  , and α31 , α32 , α33
are the direction cosines of Z relative to X , Y  , Z  . Equation 1.6 may be understood
by taking the partial derivative of ux with respect to ux , which results in: ∂u ∂ux = α11 .
x


In other words, the cosine of the angle between ux and ux is the same as the cosine
of the angle between the X axis and the X axis. This statement also holds for the
cosine of the angle between the X and the Y  axes, etc. Another interpretation of the
above equation is that ux is the sum of the geometric projections onto the X axis of
the velocities ux , uy and uz . A similar situation holds for uy and uz . Thus we have:

ux = (ωy z − ωz y  )α11 + (ωz x  − ωx z )α12 + (ωx y  − ωy x  )α13

uy = (ωy z − ωz y  )α21 + (ωz x  − ωx z )α22 + (ωx y  − ωy x  )α23
uz = (ωy z − ωz y  )α31 + (ωz x  − ωx z )α32 + (ωx y  − ωy x  )α33 (1.7)

The relationship between the X coordinate relative to X, Y, Z coordinates may

similarly be shown to be of the form: x  = xα11 + yα21 + zα31 where α11 , α21 , α31
are the direction cosines of X relative to X, Y, Z. We may show that for all three
coordinates X , Y  , Z  relative to the X, Y, Z coordinates, the relationship is the
following:

x  = xα11 + yα21 + zα31

y  = xα12 + yα22 + zα32
z = xα13 + yα23 + zα33 (1.8)

where α11 , α21 , α31 are the direction cosines of X relative to X, Y, Z, α12 , α22 , α32
are the direction cosines of Y  relative to X, Y, Z, and α13 , α23 , α33 are the direction
cosines of Z  relative to X, Y, Z. Similarly, for angular rates ωx , ωx ωx , we have:

ωx = ωx α11 + ωy α21 + ωz α31

ωy = ωx α12 + ωy α22 + ωz α32
ωz = ωx α13 + ωy α23 + ωz α33 (1.9)
1.2 Direction Cosines and Euler Angles of Rotation 7

Using the identities:

ux = (ωy z − ωz y  )α11 + (ωz x  − ωx z )α12 + (ωx y  − ωy x  )α13

uy = (ωy z − ωz y  )α21 + (ωz x  − ωx z )α22 + (ωx y  − ωy x  )α23
uz = (ωy z − ωz y  )α31 + (ωz x  − ωx z )α32 + (ωx y  − ωy x  )α33 (1.10)

and the values for x  , y  z and ωx , ωy , ωz in Eqs. 1.8 and 1.9, we have:

ux = (ωy z − ωz y  )α11 + (ωz x  − ωx z )α12 + (ωx y  − ωy x  )α13

⇒ ux = (ωy [xα13 + yα23 + zα33 ] − ωz [xα12 + yα22 + zα32 ])α11
+ (ωz [xα11 + yα21 + zα31 ] − ωx [xα13 + yα23 + zα33 ])α12
+ (ωx [xα12 + yα22 + zα32 ] − ωy [xα11 + yα21 + zα31 ])α13
(1.11)

∂ux
It turns out that the coefficient which multiplies x is zero, or ∂x = 0. This may be
seen from the following expression:

∂ux
= α13 (α12 [α11 ωx + α21 ωy + α31 ωz ] − α11 [α12 ωx + α22 ωy + α32 ωz ])
∂x
− α12 (α13 [α11 ωx + α21 ωy + α31 ωz ] − α11 [α13 ωx + α23 ωy + α33 ωz ])
+ α11 (α13 [α12 ωx + α22 ωy + α32 ωz ] − α12 [α13 ωx + α23 ωy + α33 ωz ])
= (α13 α12 − α12 α13 )[α11 ωx + α21 ωy + α31 ωz ]
+ (α11 α13 − α13 α11 )[α12 ωx + α22 ωy + α32 ωz ]
+ (α11 α12 − α12 α11 )[α13 ωx + α23 ωy + α33 ωz ] = 0

thus implying that ux is of the form:

ux = α11 α23 α32 ωz y − α11 α22 α33 ωz y + α12 α21 α33 ωz y − α12 α23 α31 ωz y
− α13 α21 α32 ωz y + α13 α22 α31 ωz y + α11 α22 α33 ωy z − α11 α23 α32 ωy z
− α12 α21 α33 ωy z + α12 α23 α31 ωy z + α13 α21 α32 ωy z − α13 α22 α31 ωy z
= (ωy z − ωz y)[α11 α22 α33 − α12 α21 α33 ]
+ (ωy z − ωz y)[α13 α21 α32 − α11 α23 α32 ]
+ (ωy z − ωz y)[α12 α23 α31 − α13 α22 α31 ]
8 1 Introduction

which may be simplified as follows:

⎛

ux = (ωy z − ωz y) ⎝(α11 α22 − α12 α21 ) α33 + (α13 α21 − α11 α23 ) α32
     
=α33 =α32
⎞
 
+ (α12 α23 − α13 α22 ) α31 )⎠ = α31
2
+ α32
2
+ α33
2
(ωy z − ωz y) (1.12)
     
=α31
=1

since ux = ωy z − ωz y. Similarly uy and uz are:

⎛

uy = (ωz x − ωx z) ⎝(α12 α31 − α11 α32 ) α23 + (α11 α33 − α13 α31 ) α22
     
=α23 =α22
⎞
 
+ (α13 α32 − α12 α33 ) α21 )⎠ = α23
2
+ α22
2
+ α21
2
(ωz x − ωx z)
     
=α21
=1

uz = (ωy x − ωx y) ⎝(α22 α31 − α21 α32 ) α13 + (α21 α33 − α23 α31 ) α12
     
=α13 =α12
⎞
 
+ (α23 α32 − α33 α22 ) α11 )⎠ = α13
2
+ α12
2
+ α11
2
(ωy z − ωz y)
     
=α11
=1

The identities for α31 , α32 , and α33 appear in Wells’ book [51, pp. 343] and will be
developed in the sequel.
Let i1 , i2 , i3 be the orthogonal unit vectors along the X1 , Y1 , Z1 axes, respec-
tively, and e1 , e2 , e3 be the orthogonal unit vectors along the X, Y, Z axes. The
direction cosines between the i1 and e1 , e2 , and e3 unit vectors are accordingly:
α11 , α21 and α31 . The i1 , i2 , and i3 vectors may then be written in terms of the e1 , e2 ,
and e3 vectors and the corresponding direction cosines between the two systems of
unit vectors as follows:

i1 = α11 e1 + α21 e2 + α31 e3

i2 = α12 e1 + α22 e2 + α32 e3
i3 = α13 e1 + α23 e2 + α33 e3 (1.13)
1.2 Direction Cosines and Euler Angles of Rotation 9

Similarly, the e1 , e2 , and e3 unit vectors may be expressed in terms of the i1 , i2 , i3

unit vectors and the corresponding direction cosines between the two systems of
unit orthogonal vectors as follows:

e1 = α11 i1 + α12 i2 + α13 i3

e2 = α21 i1 + α22 i2 + α23 i3
e3 = α31 i1 + α32 i2 + α33 i3 (1.14)

Since the unit vectors are orthogonal we have: e1 · e2 = 0; e1 · e3 = 0; e2 · e3 =

0; e1 · e1 = 1; e2 · e2 = 1; e3 · e3 = 1. Similarly for the i1 , i2 , i3 orthogonal unit
vectors we have: i1 ·i2 = 0; i1 ·i3 = 0; i2 ·i3 = 0; i1 ·i1 = 1; i2 ·i2 = 1; i3 ·i3 = 1.
The dot products of the vectors i1 · i1 , i2 · i2 and i3 · i3 will yield the following:

i1 · i1 = (α11 e1 + α21 e2 + α31 e3 ) · (α11 e1 + α21 e2 + α31 e3 )

⇒ 1 = α11
2
+ α21
2
+ α31
2

i2 · i2 = (α12 e1 + α22 e2 + α32 e3 ) · (α12 e1 + α22 e2 + α32 e3 )

⇒ 1 = α12
2
+ α22
2
+ α32
2

i3 · i3 = (α13 e1 + α23 e2 + α33 e3 ) · (α13 e1 + α23 e2 + α33 e3 )

⇒ 1 = α13
2
+ α23
2
+ α33
2
(1.15)

Similarly the dot products of the vectors i1 · i2 , i1 · i2 and i2 · i3 result in:

i1 · i2 = (α11 e1 + α21 e2 + α31 e3 ) · (α12 e1 + α22 e2 + α32 e3 )

⇒ 0 = α11 α12 + α21 α22 + α31 α31
i1 · i3 = (α11 e1 + α21 e2 + α31 e3 ) · (α13 e1 + α23 e2 + α33 e3 )
⇒ 0 = α11 α13 + α21 α23 + α31 α33
i2 · i3 = (α12 e1 + α22 e2 + α32 e3 ) · (α13 e1 + α23 e2 + α33 e3 )
⇒ 0 = α12 α13 + α22 α23 + α32 α33 (1.16)

The same procedure is employed on the e1 , e2 , and e3 vectors, that is:

e1 · e1 = (α11 i1 + α12 i2 + α13 i3 ) · (α11 i1 + α12 i2 + α13 i3 )

⇒ 1 = α11
2
+ α12
2
+ α13
2

e2 · e2 = (α21 i1 + α22 i2 + α23 i3 ) · (α21 i1 + α22 i2 + α23 i3 )

⇒ 1 = α21
2
+ α22
2
+ α23
2
10 1 Introduction

e3 · e3 = (α31 i1 + α32 i2 + α33 i3 ) · (α31 i1 + α32 i2 + α33 i3 )

⇒ 1 = α31
2
+ α32
2
+ α33
2

e1 · e2 = (α11 i1 + α12 i2 + α13 i3 ) · (α21 i1 + α22 i2 + α23 i3 )

⇒ 0 = α11 α21 + α12 α22 + α13 α23
e1 · e3 = (α11 i1 + α12 i2 + α13 i3 ) · (α31 i1 + α32 i2 + α33 i3 )
⇒ 0 = α11 α31 + α12 α32 + α13 α33
e2 · e3 = (α21 i1 + α22 i2 + α23 i3 ) · (α31 i1 + α32 i2 + α33 i3 )
⇒ 0 = α21 α31 + α22 α32 + α23 α33 (1.17)

The following has been assumed:

(a) X1 , Y1 , Z1 is a fixed and stationary coordinate system.
(b) X, Y, Z is a body fixed coordinate system where the body rotates around some
fixed point O.
(c) The direction cosines between the X coordinate and coordinates X1 , Y1 , Z1 are
α11 , α12 , α13 .
(d) Similarly, for the direction cosines between the Y coordinate and coordinates
X1 , Y1 , Z1 , we have: α21 , α22 , α23 , etc.
Hence, the transformation of a vector from the stationary X1 , Y1 , Z1 coordinate
system to the rotating X, Y, Z coordinate system can be written in matrix form as
follows:
⎡ ⎤ ⎡ ⎤⎡ ⎤
xb α11 α12 α13 xea
⎣ yb ⎦ = ⎣ α21 α22 α23 ⎦ ⎣ yea ⎦ (1.18)
zb α31 α32 α33 zea
⎤
⎡
xea
where the vector ⎣ yea ⎦ is in the X1 , Y1 , Z1 coordinate frame and the vector
zea
⎡ ⎤
xb
⎣ yb ⎦ is in the X, Y, Z coordinate frame. The rotation of the vector X1 , Y1 , Z1
zb
coordinates into the vector in X, Y, Z coordinates can be described by Euler angular
transformations in matrix form as follows:
⎡ ⎤ ⎡ ⎤⎡ ⎤
xb cos θ cos ψ cos θ sin ψ − sin θ xea
⎢ ⎥ ⎢ ⎥⎢ ⎥
⎣ yb ⎦ = ⎣ sin φ sin θ cos ψ − cos φ sin ψ sin φ sin θ sin ψ + cos φ cos ψ sin φ cos θ ⎦ ⎣ yea ⎦
zb cos φ sin θ cos ψ + sin φ sin ψ cos φ sin θ sin ψ − sin φ cos ψ cos φ cos θ zea
(1.19)
1.2 Direction Cosines and Euler Angles of Rotation 11

Equating the two transformations we note that:

α11 = cos θ cos ψ; α12 = cos θ sin ψ; α13 = − sin θ

α21 = sin φ sin θ cos ψ − cos φ sin ψ; α22 = sin φ sin θ sin ψ + cos φ cos ψ
α23 = sin φ cos θ ; α31 = cos φ sin θ cos ψ + sin φ sin ψ
α32 = cos φ sin θ sin ψ − sin φ cos ψ; α33 = cos φ cos θ
(1.20)

Taking the product of α22 ∗ α33

α22 ∗ α33 = (sin φ sin θ sin ψ + cos φ cos ψ) ∗ (cos φ cos θ )

= cos φ cos θ sin φ sin θ sin ψ + cos θ cos2 φ cos ψ
(1.21)

Similarly the product of −α23 ∗ α32

−α23 ∗ α32 = −(sin φ cos θ ) ∗ (cos φ sin θ sin ψ − sin φ cos ψ)

= −(cos φ cos θ sin φ sin θ sin ψ) + cos θ sin2 φ cos ψ
(1.22)

Calculating α22 ∗ α33 − α23 ∗ α32 , we have:

α22 ∗ α33 − α23 ∗ α32 = (cos φ cos θ sin φ sin θ sin ψ)

− (cos φ cos θ sin φ sin θ sin ψ)
+ cos θ cos2 φ cos ψ + cos θ sin2 φ cos ψ
= cos θ cos ψ = α11 (1.23)

Similarly for α12 , we have: α12 = α23 ∗ α31 − α33 ∗ α21 = cos θ sin ψ, which is
expanded in the following equation:

α23 ∗ α31 = (sin φ cos θ ) ∗ (cos φ sin θ cos ψ + sin φ sin ψ)

= sin φ cos θ cos φ sin θ cos ψ + sin2 φ cos θ sin ψ
− α33 ∗ α21 = −(cos φ cos θ )(sin φ sin θ cos ψ − cos φ sin ψ)
= cos2 φ cos θ sin ψ − cos φ cos θ sin φ sin θ cos ψ
⇒ α23 ∗ α31 − α33 ∗ α21 = cos θ sin ψ
(1.24)
12 1 Introduction

And finally for α21 = α32 ∗ α13 − α12 ∗ α33 , the result is:

α32 ∗ α13 = (sin φ cos ψ − cos φ sin θ sin ψ)(sin θ )

= sin θ sin φ cos ψ − sin2 θ cos φ sin ψ
− α12 ∗ α33 = −(cos θ sin ψ)(cos φ cos θ ) = − cos2 θ sin ψ cos φ
⇒ α21 = sin θ sin φ cos ψ − sin2 θ cos φ sin ψ − cos2 θ sin ψ cos φ
= sin θ sin φ cos ψ − cos φ sin ψ
(1.25)

Following a similar procedure, all of the identities between the Euler angles and the
direction cosines are as follows:
1. α11 = α22 ∗ α33 − α23 ∗ α32 = cos θ cos ψ
2. α12 = α23 ∗ α31 − α33 ∗ α21 = cos θ sin ψ
3. α13 = α21 ∗ α32 − α31 ∗ α22 = − sin θ
4. α21 = α32 ∗ α13 − α12 ∗ α33 = sin φ sin θ cos ψ − cos φ sin ψ
5. α22 = α33 ∗ α11 − α13 ∗ α31 = sin φ sin θ sin ψ + cos φ cos ψ
6. α23 = α31 ∗ α12 − α11 ∗ α32 = sin φ cos θ
7. α31 = α12 ∗ α23 − α22 ∗ α13 = cos φ sin θ cos ψ + sin φ sin ψ
8. α32 = α13 ∗ α21 − α11 ∗ α23 = cos φ sin θ sin ψ − sin φ cos ψ
9. α33 = α11 ∗ α22 − α12 ∗ α21 = cos φ cos θ
Other documents randomly have
different content
of bears, which would make the following of their trails unpopular with
sphexes. And Roane seized upon the idea and absorbedly suggested
that a sphex-repellent odor might be worked out, which would make a
human revolting to a sphex. If that were done—why—humans could
go freely about unmolested.
"Like stink-bugs," said Huyghens, sardonically. "A very intelligent
idea! Very rational! You can feel proud!"
And suddenly Roane, very obscurely, was not proud of the idea at all.
They camped again. On the third night they were at the base of that
remarkable formation, the Sere Plateau, which from a distance
looked like a mountain-range but was actually a desert tableland. And
it was not reasonable for a desert to be raised high, while lowlands
had rain, but on the fourth morning they found out why. They saw, far,
far away, a truly monstrous mountain-mass at the end of the long-way
expanse of the plateau. It was like the prow of a ship. It lay, so
Huyghens observed, directly in line with the prevailing winds, and
divided them as a ship's prow divides the waters. The moisture-
bearing air-currents flowed beside the plateau, not over it, and its
interior was pure sere desert in the unscreened sunshine of high
altitudes.

It took them a full day to get halfway up the slope. And here, twice as
they climbed, Semper flew screaming over aggregations of sphexes
to one side of them or the other. These were much larger groups than
Huyghens had ever seen before—fifty to a hundred monstrosities
together, where a dozen was a large hunting-pack elsewhere. He
looked in the screen which showed him what Semper saw, four to five
miles away. The sphexes padded uphill toward the Sere Plateau in a
long line. Fifty—sixty—seventy tan-and-azure beasts out of hell.
"I'd hate to have that bunch jump us," he said candidly to Roane. "I
don't think we'd stand a chance."
"Here's where a robot tank would be useful," Roane observed.
"Anything armored," conceded Huyghens. "One man in an armored
station like mine would be safe. But if he killed a sphex he'd be
besieged. He'd have to stay holed up, breathing the smell of dead
sphex, until the odor had gone away. And he mustn't kill any others or
he'd be besieged until winter came."
Roane did not suggest the advantages of robots in other directions.
At that moment, for example, they were working their way up a slope
which averaged fifty degrees. The bears climbed without effort
despite their burdens. For the men it was infinite toil. Semper, the
eagle, manifested impatience with bears and men alike, who crawled
so slowly up an incline over which he soared.
He went ahead up the mountainside and teetered in the air-currents
at the plateau's edge. Huyghens looked in the vision-plate by which
he reported.
"How the devil," panted Roane—they had stopped for a breather, and
the bears waited patiently for them—"do you train bears like these? I
can understand Semper."
"I don't train them," said Huyghens, staring into the plate. "They're
mutations. In heredity the sex-linkage of physical characteristics is
standard stuff. But there's been some sound work done on the gene-
linkage of psychological factors. There was need, on my home
planet, for an animal who could fight like a fiend, live off the land,
carry a pack and get along with men at least as well as dogs do. In
the old days they'd have tried to breed the desired physical properties
into an animal who already had the personality they wanted.
Something like a giant dog, say. But back home they went at it the
other way about. They picked the wanted physical characteristics and
bred for the personality—the psychology. The job got done over a
century ago—a Kodiak bear named Kodius Champion was the first
real success. He had everything that was wanted. These bears are
his descendants."
"They look normal," commented Roane.
"They are!" said Huyghens warmly. "Just as normal as an honest dog!
They're not trained, like Semper. They train themselves!" He looked
back into the plate in his hands, which showed the ground five and
six and seven thousand feet higher. "Semper, now, is a trained bird
without too much brains. He's educated—a glorified hawk. But the
bears want to get along with men. They're emotionally dependent on
us! Like dogs. Semper's a servant, but they're companions and
friends. He's trained, but they're loyal. He's conditioned. They love us.
He'd abandon me if he ever realized he could—he thinks he can only
eat what men feed him. But the bears wouldn't want to. They like us. I
admit that I like them. Maybe because they like me."
Roane said deliberately:
"Aren't you a trifle loose-tongued, Huyghens? I'm a Colonial Survey
officer. I have to arrest you sooner or later. You've told me something
that will locate and convict the people who set you up here. It
shouldn't be hard to find where bears were bred for psychological
mutations, and where a bear named Kodius Champion left
descendants! I can find out where you came from now, Huyghens!"
Huyghens looked up from the plate with its tiny swaying television
image, relayed from where Semper floated impatiently in mid-air.
"No harm done," he said amiably. "I'm a criminal there, too. It's
officially on record that I kidnaped these bears and escaped with
them. Which, on my home planet, is about as heinous a crime as a
man can commit. It's worse than horse-theft back on Earth in the old
days. The kin and cousins of my bears are highly thought of. I'm quite
a criminal, back home."
Roane stared.
"Did you steal them?" he demanded.
"Confidentially," said Huyghens. "No. But prove it!" Then he said:
"Take a look in this plate. See what Semper can see up at the
plateau's edge."

Roane squinted aloft, where the eagle flew in great sweeps and
dashes. Somehow, by the experience of the past few days, Roane
knew that Semper was screaming fiercely as he flew. He made a dart
toward the plateau's border.
Roane looked at the transmitted picture. It was only four inches by
six, but it was perfectly without grain and in accurate color. It moved
and turned as the camera-bearing eagle swooped and circled. For an
instant the screen showed the steeply sloping mountainside, and off
at one edge the party of men and bears could be seen as dots. Then
it swept away and showed the top of the plateau.
There were sphexes. A pack of two hundred trotted toward the desert
interior. They moved at leisure, in the open. The viewing camera
reeled, and there were more. As Roane watched and as the bird flew
higher, he could see still other sphexes moving up over the edge of
the plateau from a small erosion-defile here and another one there.
The Sere Plateau was alive with the hellish creatures. It was
inconceivable that there should be game enough for them to live on.
They were visible as herds of cattle would be visible on grazing
planets.
It was simply impossible.
"Migrating," observed Huyghens. "I said they did. They're headed
somewhere. Do you know, I doubt that it would be healthy for us to try
to cross the plateau through such a swarm of sphexes?"
Roane swore, in abrupt change of mood.
"But the signal's still coming through! Somebody's alive over at the
robot colony! Must we wait till the migration's over?"
"We don't know," Huyghens pointed out, "that they'll stay alive. They
may need help badly. We have to get to them. But at the same time
—"
He glanced at Sourdough Charley and Sitka Pete, clinging patiently
to the mountainside while the men rested and talked. Sitka had
managed to find a place to sit down, though one massive paw
anchored him in his place.
Huyghens waved his arm, pointing in a new direction.
"Let's go!" he called briskly. "Let's go! Yonder! Hup!"
 IV
They followed the slopes of the Sere Plateau, neither ascending to its
level top—where sphexes congregated—nor descending into the
foothills where sphexes assembled. They moved along hillsides and
mountain-flanks which sloped anywhere from thirty to sixty degrees,
and they did not cover much distance. They practically forgot what it
was to walk on level ground. Semper, the eagle, hovered overhead
during the daytime, not far away. He descended at nightfall for his
food from the pack of one of the bears.
"The bears aren't doing too well for food," said Huyghens dryly. "A ton
of bear needs a lot to eat. But they're loyal to us. Semper hasn't any
loyalty. He's too stupid. But he's been conditioned to think that he can
only eat what men feed him. The bears know better, but they stick to
us regardless. I rather like these bears."
It was the most self-evident of understatements. This was at an
encampment on the top of a massive boulder which projected from a
mountainous stony wall. This was six days from the start of their
journey. There was barely room on the boulder for all the party. And
Faro Nell fussily insisted that Nugget should be in the safest part,
which meant near the mountain-flank. She would have crowded the
men outward, but Nugget whimpered for Roane. Wherefore, when
Roane moved to comfort him, Faro Nell contentedly drew back and
snorted at Sitka and Sourdough and they made room for her near the
edge.
It was a hungry camp. They had come upon tiny rills upon occasion,
flowing down the mountain side. Here the bears had drunk deeply
and the men had filled canteens. But this was the third night, and
there had been no game at all. Huyghens made no move to bring out
food for Roane or himself. Roane made no comment. He was
beginning to participate in the relationship between bears and men,
which was not the slavery of the bears but something more. It was
two-way. He felt it.
"It would seem," he said fretfully, "that since the sphexes don't seem
to hunt on their way uphill, that there should be some game. They
ignore everything as they file uphill."
This was true enough. The normal fighting formation of sphexes was
line abreast, which automatically surrounded anything which offered
to flee and outflanked anything which offered fight. But here they
ascended the mountain in long lines, one after the other, following
apparently long-established trails. The wind blew along the slopes
and carried scent only sidewise. But the sphexes were not diverted
from their chosen paths. The long processions of hideous blue-and-
tawny creatures—it was hard to think of them as natural beasts, male
and female and laying eggs like reptiles on other planets—simply
climbed.
"There've been other thousands of beasts before them," said
Huyghens. "They must have been crowding this way for days or even
weeks. We've seen tens of thousands in Semper's camera. They
must be uncountable, altogether. The first-comers ate all the game
there was, and the last-comers have something else on whatever
they use for minds."
Roane protested:
"But so many carnivores in one place is impossible! I know they are
here, but they can't be!"
"They're cold-blooded," Huyghens pointed out. "They don't burn food
to sustain body-temperature. After all, lots of creatures go for long
periods without eating. Even bears hibernate. But this isn't
hibernation—or estivation, either."
He was setting up the radiation-wave receiver in the darkness. There
was no point in attempting a fix here. The transmitter was on the
other side of the Sere Plateau, which inexplicably swarmed with the
most ferocious and deadly of all the creatures of Loren Two. The men
and bears would commit suicide by crossing here.
But Huyghens turned on the receiver. There came the whispering,
scratchy sound of background-noise. Then the signal. Three dots,
three dashes, three dots. Three dots, three dashes, three dots. It
went on and on and on. Huyghens turned it off. Roane said:
"Shouldn't we have answered that signal before we left the station?
To encourage them?"
"I doubt they have a receiver," said Huyghens. "They won't expect an
answer for months, anyhow. They'd hardly listen all the time, and if
they're living in a mine-tunnel and trying to sneak out for food to
stretch their supplies—why, they'll be too busy to try to make
complicated recorders or relays."
Roane was silent for a moment or two.
"We've got to get food for the bears," he said presently. "Nugget's
weaned, and he's hungry."
"We will," Huyghens promised. "I may be wrong, but it seems to me
that the number of sphexes climbing the mountain is less than
yesterday and the day before. We may have just about crossed the
path of their migration. They're thinning out. When we're past their
trail, we'll have to look out for night-walkers and the like again. But I
think they wiped out all animal life on their migration-route."

He was not quite right. He was waked in darkness by the sound of

slappings and the grunting of bears. Feather-light puffs of breeze
beat upon his face. He struck his belt-lamp sharply and the world was
hidden by a whitish film which snatched itself away. Something
flapped. Then he saw the stars and the emptiness on the edge of
which they camped. Then big white things flapped toward him.
Sitka Pete whuffed mightily and swatted. Faro Nell grunted and
swung. She caught something in her claws. She crunched. The light
went off as Huyghens realized. Then he said:
"Don't shoot, Roane!" He listened, and heard the sounds of feeding in
the dark. It ended. "Watch this!" said Huyghens.
The belt-light came on again. Something strangely-shaped and pallid
like human skin reeled and flapped crazily toward him. Something
else. Four. Five—ten—twenty—more....
A huge hairy paw reached up into the light-beam and snatched a
flying thing out of it. Another great paw. Huyghens shifted the light
and the three great Kodiaks were on their hind legs, swatting at
creatures which flittered insanely, unable to resist the fascination of
the glaring lamp. Because of their wild gyrations it was impossible to
see them in detail, but they were those unpleasant night-creatures
which looked like plucked flying monkeys but were actually something
quite different.
The bears did not snarl or snap. They swatted, with a remarkable air
of businesslike competence and purpose. Small mounds of broken
things built up about their feet.
Suddenly there were no more. Huyghens snapped off the light. The
bears crunched and fed busily in the darkness.
"Those things are carnivores and blood-suckers, Roane," said
Huyghens calmly. "They drain their victims of blood like vampire bats
—they've some trick of not waking them—and when they're dead the
whole tribe eats. But bears have thick furs, and they wake when
they're touched. And they're omnivorous—they'll eat anything but
sphexes, and like it. You might say that those night-creatures came to
lunch. But they stayed. They are it—for the bears, who are living off
the country as usual."
Roane uttered a sudden exclamation. He made a tiny light, and blood
flowed down his hand. Huyghens passed over his pocket kit of
antiseptic and bandages. Roane stanched the bleeding and bound up
his hand. Then he realized that Nugget chewed on something. When
he turned the light, Nugget swallowed convulsively. It appeared that
he had caught and devoured the creature which had drawn blood
from Roane. But Roane had lost none to speak of, at that.
In the morning they started along the sloping scarp of the plateau
once more. During the morning, Roane said painfully:
"Robots wouldn't have handled those vampire-things, Huyghens."
"Oh, they could be built to watch for them," said Huyghens, tolerantly.
"But you'd have to swat for yourself. I prefer the bears."
He led the way on. Here their jungle-formation could not apply. On a
steep slope the bears ambled comfortably, the tough pads of their
feet holding fast on the slanting rock, but the men struggled painfully.
Twice Huyghens halted to examine the ground about the mountains'
bases through binoculars. He looked encouraged as they went on.
The monstrous peak which was like the bow of a ship at the end of
the Sere Plateau was visibly nearer. Toward midday, indeed, it looked
high above the horizon, no more than fifteen miles away. And at
midday Huyghens called a final halt.
"No more congregations of sphexes down below," he said cheerfully,
"and we haven't seen a climbing line of them in miles." The crossing
of a sphex-trail meant simply waiting until one party had passed, and
then crossing before another came in view. "I've a hunch we've
crossed their migration-route. Let's see what Semper tells us!"
He waved the eagle aloft. And Semper, like all creatures other than
men, normally functioned only for the satisfaction of his appetite, and
then tended to loaf or sleep. He had ridden the last few miles perched
on Sitka Pete's pack. Now he soared upward and Huyghens watched
in the small vision-plate.
Semper went soaring—and the image on the plate swayed and
turned and turned—and in minutes was above the plateau's edge.
And here there was some vegetation and the ground rolled
somewhat, and there were even patches of brush. But as Semper
towered higher still, the inner desert appeared. But nearby it was
clear of beasts. Only once, when the eagle banked sharply and the
camera looked along the long dimension of the plateau, did
Huyghens see any sign of the blue-and-tan beasts. There he saw
what looked like masses amounting to herds. But, of course,
carnivores do not gather in herds.
"We go straight up," said Huyghens in satisfaction. "We cross the
plateau here—and we can edge down-wind a bit, even. I think we'll
find something interesting on our way to your robot colony."
He waved to the bears to go ahead uphill.

They reached the top hours later—barely before sunset. And they
saw game. Not much, but game at the grassy, brushy border of the
desert. Huyghens brought down a shaggy ruminant which surely
would not live on a desert. When night fell there was an abrupt chill in
the air. It was much colder than night-temperatures on the slopes.
The air was thin. Roane thought confusedly and presently guessed at
the cause. In the lee of the prow-mountain the air was calm. There
were no clouds. The ground radiated its heat to empty space. It could
be bitterly cold in the nighttime, here.
"And hot by day," Huyghens agreed when he mentioned it. "The
sunshine's terrifically hot where the air is thin, but on most mountains
there's wind. By day, here, the ground will tend to heat up like the
surface of a planet without atmosphere. It may be a hundred and forty
or fifty degrees on the sand at midday. But it should be cold at night."
It was. Before midnight Huyghens built a fire. There could be no
danger of night-walkers where the temperature dropped to freezing.
In the morning the men were stiff with cold, but the bears snorted and
moved about briskly. They seemed to revel in the morning chill. Sitka
and Sourdough Charley, in fact, became festive and engaged in a
mock fight, whacking each other with blows that were only feigned,
but would have crushed in the skull of any man. Nugget sneezed with
excitement as he watched them. Faro Nell regarded them with female
disapproval.
They went on. Semper seemed sluggish. After a single brief flight he
descended and rode on Sitka's pack, as on the previous day. He
perched there, surveying the landscape as it changed from semi-arid
to pure desert in their progress. His air was arrogant. But he would
not fly. Soaring birds do not like to fly when there are no winds to
make currents of which to take advantage. On the way, Huyghens
painstakingly pointed out to Roane exactly where they were on the
enlarged photograph taken from space, and the exact spot from
which the distress-signal seemed to come.
"You're doing it in case something happens to you," said Roane. "I
admit it's sense, but—what could I do to help those survivors even if I
got to them, without you?"
"What you've learned about sphexes would help," said Huyghens.
"The bears would help. And we left a note back at my station.
Whoever grounds at the landing field back there—and the beacon's
working again—will find instructions to come to the place we're trying
to reach."
Roane plodded alongside him. The narrow non-desert border of the
Sere Plateau was behind them, now. They marched across powdery
desert sand.
"See here," said Roane, "I want to know something! You tell me
you're listed as a bear-thief on your home planet. You tell me it's a lie
—to protect your friends from prosecution by the Colonial Survey.
You're on your own, risking your life every minute of every day. You
took a risk in not shooting me. Now you're risking more in going to
help men who'd have to be witnesses that you were a criminal. What
are you doing it for?"
Huyghens grinned.
"Because I don't like robots. I don't like the fact that they're subduing
men—making men subordinate to them."
"Go on," insisted Roane. "I don't see why disliking robots should
make you a criminal. Nor men subordinating themselves to robots,
either!"
"But they are," said Huyghens mildly. "I'm a crank, of course. But—I
live like a man on this planet. I go where I please and do what I
please. My helpers, the bears, are my friends. If the robot colony had
been a success, would the humans in it have lived like men? Hardly!
They'd have to live the way the robots let them! They'd have to stay
inside a fence the robots built. They'd have to eat foods that robots
could raise, and no others. Why—a man couldn't move his bed near a
window, because if he did the house-tending robots couldn't work!
Robots would serve them—the way the robots determined—but all
they'd get out of it would be jobs servicing the robots!"
Roane shook his head.
"As long as men want robot service, they have to take the service that
robots can give. If you don't want those services—"
"I want to decide what I want," said Huyghens, again mildly, "instead
of being limited to choose among what I'm offered. On my home
planet we halfway tamed it with dogs and guns. Then we developed
the bears, and we finished the job with them. Now there's population-
pressure and the room for bears and dogs—and men—is dwindling.
More and more people are being deprived of the power of decision,
and being allowed only the power of choice among the things robots
allow. The more we depend on robots, the more limited those choices
become. We don't want our children to limit themselves to wanting
what robots can provide! We don't want them shriveling to where they
abandon everything robots can't give—or won't! We want them to be
men—and women. Not damned automatons who live by pushing
robot-controls so they can live to push robot-controls. If that's not
subordination to robots—"
"It's an emotional argument," protested Roane. "Not everybody feels
that way."
"But I feel that way," said Huyghens. "And so do a lot of others. This
is a big galaxy and it's apt to contain some surprises. The one sure
thing about a robot and a man who depends on them is that they
can't handle the unexpected. There's going to come a time when we
need men who can. So on my home planet, some of us asked for
Loren Two, to colonize. It was refused—too dangerous. But men can
colonize anywhere if they're men. So I came here to study the planet.
Especially the sphexes. Eventually, we expected to ask for a license
again, with proof that we could handle even those beasts. I'm already
doing it in a mild way. But the Survey licensed a robot colony—and
where is it?"
Roane made a sour face.
"You picked the wrong way to go about it, Huyghens. It was illegal. It
is. It was the pioneer spirit, which is admirable enough, but wrongly
directed. After all, it was pioneers who left Earth for the stars. But—"

Sourdough raised up on his hind legs and sniffed the air. Huyghens
swung his rifle around to be handy. Roane slipped off the safety-catch
of his own. Nothing happened.
"In a way," said Roane vexedly, "you're talking about liberty and
freedom, which most people think is politics. You say it can be more.
In principle, I'll concede it. But the way you put it, it sounds like a
freak religion."
"It's self-respect," corrected Huyghens.
"You may be—"
Faro Nell growled. She bumped Nugget with her nose, to drive him
closer to Roane. She snorted at him. She trotted swiftly to where
Sitka and Sourdough faced toward the broader, sphex-filled expanse
of the Sere Plateau. She took up her position between them.
Huyghens gazed sharply beyond them and then all about.
"This could be bad!" he said softly. "But luckily there's no wind. Here's
a sort of hill. Come along, Roane!"
He ran ahead, Roane following and Nugget plumping heavily with
him. They reached the raised place—actually a mere hillock no more
than five or six feet above the surrounding sand, with a distorted
cactuslike growth protruding from the ground. Huyghens stared
again. He used his binoculars.
"One sphex," he said curtly. "Just one! And it's out of all reason for a
sphex to be alone! But it's not rational for them to gather in hundreds
of thousands, either!" He wetted his finger and held it up. "No wind at
all."
He used the binoculars again.
"It doesn't know we're here," he added. "It's moving away. Not
another one in sight—" He hesitated, biting his lips. "Look here,
Roane! I'd like to kill that one lone sphex and find out something.
There's a fifty per cent chance I could find out something really
important. But—I might have to run. If I'm right—" Then he said
grimly, "It'll have to be done quickly. I'm going to ride Faro Nell—for
speed. I doubt Sitka or Sourdough would stay behind. But Nugget
can't run fast enough. Will you stay here with him?"
Roane drew in his breath. Then he said calmly:
"You know what you're doing. Of course."
"Keep your eyes open. If you see anything, even at a distance, shoot
and we'll be back—fast! Don't wait until something's close enough to
hit. Shoot the instant you see anything—if you do!"
Roane nodded. He found it peculiarly difficult to speak again.
Huyghens went over to the embattled bears. He climbed up on Faro
Nell's back, holding fast by her shaggy fur.
"Let's go!" he snapped. "That way! Hup!"

The three Kodiaks plunged away at a dead run, Huyghens lurching

and swaying on Faro Nell's back. The sudden rush dislodged Semper
from his perch. He flapped wildly and got aloft. Then he followed
effortfully, flying low.
It happened very quickly. A Kodiak bear can travel as fast as a race
horse on occasion. These three plunged arrow-straight for a spot
perhaps half a mile distant, where a blue-and-tawny shape whirled to
face them. There was the crash of Huyghens' weapon from where he
rode on Faro Nell's back—the explosion of the weapon and the bullet
was one sound. The somehow unnatural spiky monster leaped and
died.
Huyghens jumped down from Faro Nell. He became feverishly busy
at something on the ground—where the parti-colored sphex had
fallen. Semper banked and whirled and came down to the ground. He
watched, with his head on one side.
Roane stared, from a distance. Huyghens was doing something to
the dead sphex. The two male bears prowled about. Faro Nell
regarded Huyghens with intense curiosity. Back at the hillock, Nugget
whimpered a little. Roane patted him roughly. Nugget whimpered
more loudly. In the distance, Huyghens straightened up and took
three steps toward Faro Nell. He mounted. Sitka turned his head
back toward Roane. He seemed to see or sniff something dubious.
He reared upward. He made a noise, apparently, because Sourdough
ambled to his side. The two great beasts began to trot back. Semper
flapped wildly and—lacking wind—lurched crazily in the air. He
landed on Huyghens' shoulder and his talons clung there.
Then Nugget howled hysterically and tried to swarm up Roane, as a
cub tries to swarm up the nearest tree in time of danger. Roane
collapsed, and the cub upon him—and there was a flash of stinking
scaly hide, while the air was filled with the snarling, spitting squeals of
a sphex in full leap. The beast had over-jumped, aiming at Roane and
the cub while both were upright and arriving when they had fallen. It
went tumbling.
Roane heard nothing but the fiendish squalling, but in the distance
Sitka and Sourdough were coming at rocketship speed. Faro Nell let
out a roar and fairly split the air. And then there was a furry cub
streaking toward her, bawling, while Roane rolled to his feet and
snatched up his gun. He raged through pure instinct. The sphex
crouched to pursue the cub and Roane swung his weapon as a club.
He was literally too close to shoot—and perhaps the sphex had only
seen the fleeing bear-cub. But he swung furiously.
And the sphex whirled. Roane was toppled from his feet. An eight-
hundred-pound monstrosity straight out of hell—half wildcat and half
spitting cobra with hydrophobia and homicidal mania added—such a
monstrosity is not to be withstood when in whirling its body strikes
one in the chest.
That was when Sitka arrived, bellowing. He stood on his hind legs,
emitting roars like thunder, challenging the sphex to battle. He
waddled forward. Huyghens arrived, but he could not shoot with
Roane in the sphere of an explosive bullet's destructiveness. Faro
Nell raged and snarled, torn between the urge to be sure that Nugget
was unharmed, and the frenzied fury of a mother whose offspring has
been endangered.
Mounted on Faro Nell, with Semper clinging idiotically to his shoulder,
Huyghens watched helplessly as the sphex spat and squalled at
Sitka, having only to reach out one claw to let out Roane's life.
 V
They got away from there, though Sitka seemed to want to lift the
limp carcass of his victim in his teeth and dash it repeatedly to the
ground. He seemed doubly raging because a man—with whom all
Kodius Champion's descendants had an emotional relationship—had
been mishandled. But Roane was not grievously hurt. He bounced
and swore as the bears raced for the horizon. Huyghens had flung
him up on Sourdough's pack and snapped for him to hold on. He
bumped and chattered furiously:
"Dammit, Huyghens! This isn't right! Sitka got some deep scratches!
That horror's claws may be poisonous!"
But Huyghens snapped, "Hup! Hup!" to the bears, and they continued
their race against time. They went on for a good two miles, when
Nugget wailed despairingly of his exhaustion and Faro Nell halted
firmly to nuzzle him.
"This may be good enough," said Huyghens. "Considering that there's
no wind and the big mass of beasts is down the plateau and there
were only those two around here. Maybe they're too busy to hold a
wake, even! Anyhow—"
He slid to the ground and extracted the antiseptic and swabs.
"Sitka first," snapped Roane. "I'm all right!"
Huyghens swabbed the big bear's wounds. They were trivial,
because Sitka Pete was an experienced sphex-fighter. Then Roane
grudgingly let the curiously-smelling stuff—it reeked of ozone—be
applied to the slashes on his chest. He held his breath as it stung.
Then he said dourly:
"It was my fault, Huyghens. I watched you instead of the landscape. I
couldn't imagine what you were doing."
"I was doing a quick dissection," Huyghens told him. "By luck, that
first sphex was a female, as I hoped. And she was just about to lay
her eggs. Ugh! And now I know why the sphexes migrate, and where,
and how it is that they don't need game up here."
He slapped a quick bandage on Roane. He led the way eastward, still
putting distance between the dead sphexes and his party. It was a
crisp walk, only, but Semper flapped indignantly overhead, angry that
he was not permitted to ride again.
"I'd dissected them before," said Huyghens. "Not enough's been
known about them. Some things needed to be found out if men were
ever to be able to live here."
"With bears?" asked Roane ironically.
"Oh, yes," said Huyghens. "But the point is that sphexes come to the
desert here to breed—to mate and lay their eggs for the sun to hatch.
It's a particular place. Seals return to a special place to mate—and
the males, at least don't eat for weeks on end. Salmon return to their
native streams to spawn. They don't eat, and they die afterward. And
eels—I'm using Earth examples, Roane—travel some thousands of
miles to the Sargasso to mate and die. Unfortunately, sphexes don't
appear to die, but it's clear that they have an ancestral breeding place
and that they come here to the Sere Plateau to deposit their eggs!"
Roane plodded onward. He was angry: angry with himself because
he hadn't taken elementary precautions; because he'd felt too safe,
as a man in a robot-served civilization forms the habit of doing;
because he hadn't used his brain when Nugget whimpered, in even a
bear-cub's awareness that danger was near.
"And now," Huyghens added, "I need some equipment that the robot
colony had. With it, I think we can make a start toward making this a
planet that men can live like men on!"
Roane blinked.
"What's that?"
"Equipment," said Huyghens impatiently. "It'll be at the robot colony.
Robots were useless because they wouldn't pay attention to sphexes.
They'd still be. But take out the robot-controls and the machines will
do! They shouldn't be ruined by a few months' exposure to weather!"
Roane marched on and on. Presently he said:
"I never thought you'd want anything that came from that colony,
Huyghens!"
"Why not?" demanded Huyghens impatiently. "When men make
machines do what they want, that's all right. Even robots—when
they're where they belong. But men will have to handle flame-casters
in the job I want them for. There have to be some, because there was
a hundred-mile clearing to be burned off. And Earth-sterilizers—
intended to kill the seeds of any plants that robots couldn't handle.
We'll come back up here, Roane, and at the least we'll destroy the
spawn of these infernal beasts! If we can't do more than that—just
doing that every year will wipe out the race in time. There are
probably other hordes than this, with other breeding places. But we'll
find them, too. We'll make this planet into a place where men from my
world can come—and still be men!"
Roane said sardonically:
"It was sphexes that beat the robots. Are you sure you aren't planning
to make this world safe for robots?"
Huyghens laughed shortly.
"You've only seen one night-walker," he said. "And how about those
things on the mountain-slope—which would have drained you of
blood and then feasted? Would you care to wander about this planet
with only a robot bodyguard, Roane? Hardly! Men can't live on this
planet with only robots to help them—and stop them from being fully
men! You'll see!"

They found the colony after only ten days more of travel and after
many sphexes and more than a few staglike creatures and shaggy
ruminants had fallen to their weapons and the bears. But first they
found the survivors of the colony.
There were three of them, hard-bitten and bearded and deeply
embittered. When the electrified fence went down, two of them were
away at a mine-tunnel, installing a new control-panel for the robots
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