Mechanical systems with servoconstraints

The properties of mechanical systems controlled by the application of gener ally non-linear servoconstraints, holonomic or nonholonomic, are investigat ed. The concept of ideal servoconstraints is analysed. The specific feature s involved in applying the local variational principles of mechanics and th e equations of motion derived from them for systems with ideal and non-idea l servoconstraints are pointed out. The problem of a point moving at a cons tant velocity in a gravity field is solved, on the assumption that the cons traint keeping the velocity constant is implemented both by ideal and by no n-ideal servocontrols. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.