Constrained motion is of paramount importance in the design and analysis of mechanical systems and central to the study of analytical dynamics. The problem of constrained motion was first posed over two hundred years ago, and it has been worked on vigorously ever since. This book offers a fresh approach to the subject. Eminently readable, it is written as an introduction to analytical dynamics, with emphasis on fundamental concepts in mechanics. The connection between generalized inverses of matrices and constrained motion is a central theme. The book begins with a description of the motion of a particle subjected to holonomic and nonholonomic constraints and presents explicit equations of motion. Examples are provided throughout the book, and carefully formulated problems at the end of each chapter reinforce the material covered. This computationally appealing approach will be useful to students in engineering and the applied sciences.

"Based on a fresh concept of the Moore-Penrose generalized inverse of a matrix, this textbook gives a non-traditional description of only one, but a very important, topic of analytical dynamics, namely, the derivation of the equations of motion of a constrained discrete mechanical system from the differential Gauss principle. The clear exposition with many interesting detailed examples and suggestions for further reading makes this book useful for 'the average college senior in science and engineering' as well as for any specialist in mechanics." A. Sumbatov, Mathematical Reviews, 98j