D.J. Braun, M. Goldfarb, Elimination of Constrained Drift in the Numerical Simulation of Constrained Dynamical Systems, Computer Methods in Applied Mechanics and Engineering, vol. 198, no. 37-40, pp. 3151-3160, 2009.
This paper introduces an explicit equation of motion for simulating constrained dynamical systems without suffering from error accumulation caused by constraint drift. The method embeds small virtual forces and impulses into the dynamics, chosen to minimally alter motion while continuously correcting constraint violations and energy drift. It allows the use of standard ODE solvers without iterative stabilization and is robust to redundant constraints, singularities, and inconsistent initial conditions.
Why it matters: Simulating constrained multibody systems often requires computationally heavy stabilization techniques that introduce numerical artifacts. This work provides a simple and efficient alternative that improves accuracy, robustness, and computational efficiency, supporting more reliable simulations in robotics and mechanical engineering.