A Variational Integrator for the Chaplygin–Timoshenko Sleigh

The paper introduces a mechanically inspired nonholonomic integrator for numerical simulation of the dynamics of a constrained geometrically exact beam that is a field-theoretic analogue of the Chaplygin sleigh. The integrator features an exact constraint preservation, an excellent numerical energy conservation throughout a large number of iterations, while avoiding the use of unnecessary Lagrange multipliers. Simulations of the dynamics of the constrained beam reveal typical for nonholonomic system’s behavior, such as motion reversals and locomotion generation.