Evgeny Vetchanin

The motion of a spherical robot with periodically changing moments of inertia, internal rotors and a displaced center of mass is considered. It is shown that, under some restrictions on the displacement of the center of mass, the system of interest features chaotic dynamics due to separatrix splitting. A stability analysis is made of the upper equilibrium point of the ball and of the periodic solution arising in its neighborhood, in the case of periodic rotation of the rotors. It is shown that the lower equilibrium point can become unstable in the case of fixed rotors and periodically changing moments of inertia.

This paper examines the motion of a balanced spherical robot under the action of periodically changing moments of inertia and gyrostatic momentum. The system of equations of motion is constructed using the model of the rolling of a rubber body (without slipping and twisting) and is nonconservative. It is shown that in the absence of gyrostatic momentum the equations of motion admit three invariant submanifolds corresponding to plane-parallel motion of the sphere with rotation about the minor, middle and major axes of inertia. The abovementioned motions are quasi-periodic, and for the numerical estimate of their stability charts of the largest Lyapunov exponent and charts of stability are plotted versus the frequency and amplitude of the moments of inertia. It is shown that rotations about the minor and major axes of inertia can become unstable at sufficiently small amplitudes of the moments of inertia. In this case, the so-called “Arnol’d tongues” arise in the stability chart. Stabilization of the middle unstable axis of inertia turns out to be possible at sufficiently large amplitudes of the moments of inertia, when the middle axis of inertia becomes the minor axis for a part of a period. It is shown that the nonconservativeness of the system manifests itself in the occurrence of limit cycles, attracting tori and strange attractors in phase space. Numerical calculations show that strange attractors may arise through a cascade of period-doubling bifurcations or after a finite number of torus-doubling bifurcations.

This paper addresses the problem of the self-propulsion of a smooth body in a fluid by periodic oscillations of the internal rotor and circulation. In the case of zero dissipation and constant circulation, it is shown using methods of KAM theory that the kinetic energy of the system is a bounded function of time. In the case of constant nonzero circulation, the trajectories of the center of mass of the system lie in a bounded region of the plane. The method of expansion by a small parameter is used to approximately construct a solution corresponding to directed motion of a circular foil in the presence of dissipation and variable circulation. Analysis of this approximate solution has shown that a speed-up is possible in the system in the presence of variable circulation and in the absence of resistance to translational motion. It is shown that, in the case of an elliptic foil, directed motion is also possible. To explore the dynamics of the system in the general case, bifurcation diagrams, a chart of dynamical regimes and a chart of the largest Lyapunov exponent are plotted. It is shown that the transition to chaos occurs through a cascade of period-doubling bifurcations.

This paper addresses the problem of controlled motion of the Zhukovskii foil in a viscous fluid due to a periodically oscillating rotor. Equations of motion including the added mass effect, viscous friction and lift force due to circulation are derived. It is shown that only limit cycles corresponding to the direct motion or motion near a circle appear in the system at the standard parameter values. The chart of dynamical regimes, the chart of the largest Lyapunov exponent and a one-parameter bifurcation diagram are calculated. It is shown that strange attractors appear in the system due to a cascade of period-doubling bifurcations.

This paper addresses the problem of self-propulsion of a smooth profile in a medium with viscous dissipation and circulation by means of parametric excitation generated by oscillations of the moving internal mass. For the case of zero dissipation, using methods of KAM theory, it is shown that the kinetic energy of the system is a bounded function of time, and in the case of nonzero circulation the trajectories of the profile lie in a bounded region of the space. In the general case, using charts of dynamical regimes and charts of Lyapunov exponents, it is shown that the system can exhibit limit cycles (in particular, multistability), quasi-periodic regimes (attracting tori) and strange attractors. One-parameter bifurcation diagrams are constructed, and Neimark – Sacker bifurcations and period-doubling bifurcations are found. To analyze the efficiency of displacement of the profile depending on the circulation and parameters defining the motion of the internal mass, charts of values of displacement for a fixed number of periods are plotted. A hypothesis is formulated that, when nonzero circulation arises, the trajectories of the profile are compact. Using computer calculations, it is shown that in the case of anisotropic dissipation an unbounded growth of the kinetic energy of the system (Fermi-like acceleration) is possible.

This paper is concerned with a system of equations that describes the motion of two point vortices in a flow possessing constant uniform vorticity and perturbed by an acoustic wave. The system is shown to have both regular and chaotic regimes of motion. In addition, simple and chaotic attractors are found in the system. Attention is given to bifurcations of fixed points of a Poincar´e map which lead to the appearance of these regimes. It is shown that, in the case where the total vortex strength changes, the “reversible pitch-fork” bifurcation is a typical scenario of emergence of asymptotically stable fixed and periodic points. As a result of this bifurcation, a saddle point, a stable and an unstable point of the same period emerge from an elliptic point of some period. By constructing and analyzing charts of dynamical regimes and bifurcation diagrams we show that a cascade of period-doubling bifurcations is a typical scenario of transition to chaos in the system under consideration.

This paper is concerned with the motion of a helical body in an ideal fluid, which is controlled by rotating three internal rotors. It is proved that the motion of the body is always controllable by means of three rotors with noncoplanar axes of rotation. A condition whose satisfaction prevents controllability by means of two rotors is found. Control actions that allow the implementation of unbounded motion in an arbitrary direction are constructed. Conditions under which the motion of the body along an arbitrary smooth curve can be implemented by rotating the rotors are presented. For the optimal control problem, equations of sub-Riemannian geodesics on $SE(3)$ are obtained.

An investigation of the characteristics of motion of a rigid body with variable internal mass distribution in a viscous fluid is carried out on the basis of a joint numerical solution of the Navier–Stokes equations and equations of motion for a rigid body. A nonstationary three-dimensional solution to the problem is found. The motion of a sphere and a drop-shaped body in a viscous fluid in a gravitational field, which is caused by the motion of internal material points, is explored. The possibility of self-propulsion of a body in an arbitrary given direction is shown.