Module 2 — Kinematics and Kinetics
Christian Medical College Vellore · Department of Bioengineering
Everything a living organism does to the world, it does by moving.
“We have a brain for one reason and one reason only, and that’s to produce adaptable and complex movements.”
“Movement is the only way you have of affecting the world around you.”
— Daniel Wolpert, The real reason for brains, TEDGlobal 2011

Polycarpa aurata, Komodo. Nick Hobgood, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Wolpert’s evidence: the sea squirt swims until it finds a rock, attaches permanently, and then resorbs most of its own nervous system. Movement over, brain no longer worth its metabolic cost.
Significant amount of anatomical and physiological resources are dedicated to movement production: joints, muscles, skin, eyes, vestibular system, and the brain.
Various neurological and musculoskeletal conditions can impair healthy movement.
Everything a living organism does to the world, it does by moving.
“Unhealthy” or “abnormal” movements can be a:
1 Postuma et al. Mov. Disord. 30, 1591 (2015).
2 Buracchio et al. Arch. Neurol. 67, 980 (2010); Verghese et al. NEJM 347, 1761 (2002).
3 McDonald et al. Muscle Nerve 41, 500 (2010); 48, 343 (2013); Schmitz-Hübsch et al. Neurology 66, 1717 (2006).
4 Ward et al. J. Neurol. Neurosurg. Psychiatry 90, 498 (2019).
Parameters of interest in movements
We are interested in two aspects when dealing with measuring movements:
We will start the module with kinematics, followed by kinetics.
We will focus on:
These numbers must allow us to see beyond our visual observations — more accurate, more precise, and more sensitive information.
Movement description beyond words
Movements are changes in the position of an object of interest over time.
Position is a vector quantity describing the spatial location of an object with respect to a chosen reference frame.
A reference frame is two independent choices: an origin \(O_{A}\) (where \(x=0\) sits) and a basis \(\v{x}_{A}\) (a direction and a length).
With respect to this reference frame \(A\), the position of a particle \(P_1\) and \(P_2\) are given as following, \[ \v{r}_1^{A} = \m{3.2} \qquad \v{r}_2^{A} = \m{-1.5} \]
where \(\v{r}_{1}^{A}, \v{r}_2^{A} \in \mathbb{R}\). The superscript \(A\) says the position is expressed in reference frame \(A\); the subscript \(1\) and \(2\) is the particle number. A subscript on the frame’s own parts — \(O_A\). The numbers are the coefficients of \(\v{r}\) in the basis of that frame, which here is just \(\v{x}_{A}\).
Why did we choose one reference frame over another?
Anyone! We choose what is natural and convenient for the problem at hand.
Both the origin and the basis are fair game.
In this course, will only choose a orthonormal basis — basis vectors have unit length and are mutually orthogonal.
Reference frame \(B\) is translated and rotated with respect to reference frame \(A\). Every point in the 1D space can be represented in either frame, but the numbers will be different.
How do we change between reference frames?
Points \(P_1\) and \(P_2\) in the two reference frames.
\[\begin{matrix} \v{r}_1^{A} = \m{3.2} & \v{r}_2^{A} = \m{-1.5} \\ \v{r}_1^{B} = \m{2.8} & \v{r}_2^{B} = \m{7.5} \end{matrix} \]
How are these numbers related?
Requires us to do vector addition and scaling.
How do we change between reference frames?
Vector Addition and Scaling in 1D:
How do we change between reference frames?
Magnitude of a vector: Also referred to as the 2-norm, Euclidean norm, or length of a vector.
How do we change between reference frames?
Standard Inner Product between two vectors.
How do we change between reference frames?
Two piece of information to change between reference frames:
Rotation of the basis of the target (\(B\)) w.r.t the base frame (\(A\)). Represented by a rotation matrix \(\v{R}_{B}^{A}\).
Translation of the origin of the target frame (\(B\)) w.r.t the base frame (\(A\)), represented in the base frame. Represented by a translation vector \(\v{o}_{B}^{A}\).
Rotation Matrix
Rotation Matrix: \(\v{R}_{B}^{A} \in \mathbb{R}^{1 \times 1}\) — Represents what the basis vectors of the frame \(B\) (subscript) look like in the frame \(A\) (superscript).
\[ \v{R}_{B}^{A} = \m{\v{x}_{A}^\top \v{x}_{B}} \]
In the above example, \(\v{R}_{B}^{A} = \m{-1}\), because \(\Vert \v{x}_A \Vert = 1\), \(\Vert \v{x}_B \Vert = 1\) and \(\theta = 180\deg\).
Translation Vector
Translation Vector: \(\v{o}_{B}^{A} \in \mathbb{R}^{1 \times 1}\) — Represents the position of the origin of the frame \(B\) (subscript) in the frame \(A\) (superscript). In the above example, \(\v{o}_{B}^{A} = \m{6}\).
The full description of the reference frame \(B\) w.r.t the reference frame \(A\) is given by the pair \(\left( \v{R}_{B}^{A}, \v{o}_{B}^{A} \right)\).
This pair can be used to transform any vector expressed in frame \(B\) to frame \(A\).
Going back and forth between frames
Given the pair \(\left( \v{R}_{B}^{A}, \v{o}_{B}^{A} \right)\), we can transform any vector expressed in frame \(B\) to frame \(A\) using the following equation:
\[ \v{r}_{i}^{A} = \v{R}_{B}^{A} \, \v{r}_{i}^{B} + \v{o}_{B}^{A} \]
Product of a matrix with a vector results in a vector.
In 1D, this product is very simple. We simply multiply the individual elements of the matrix and the vector.
Going back and forth between frames
Given the pair \(\left( \v{R}_{B}^{A}, \v{o}_{B}^{A} \right)\), how do we go the other way around? \(\v{r}_{i}^{A} \mapsto \v{r}_{i}^{B}\).
\[ \v{r}_{i}^{B} = {\v{R}_{B}^{A}}^{-1} \left( \v{r}_{i}^{A} - \v{o}_{B}^{A} \right) = \v{R}_{A}^{B} \v{r}_{i}^{A} + \v{o}_{A}^{B} \]
where, \({\v{R}_{B}^{A}}^{-1} = \v{R}_{A}^{B}\), and \(\v{o}_{A}^{B} = -{\v{R}_{B}^{A}}^{-1}\v{o}_{B}^{A}\).
We obtain \({\v{R}_{B}^{A}}^{-1}\) by inverting the single number in the matrix. So, for the above example, we have, \[ {\v{R}_{B}^{A}}^{-1} = \v{R}_{A}^{B} = \m{\frac{1}{-1}} = \m{-1} \qquad \v{o}_{A}^{B} = -{\v{R}_{B}^{A}}^{-1} \v{o}_{B}^{A} = -\m{-1}\m{6} = \m{6} \]
Going back and forth between frames \(A\) and \(B\)
Given: \(\v{R}_{A}^{B} = \m{-1}\) and \(\v{o}_{A}^{B} = \m{6}\).
Going from \(A\) to \(B\).
\[ P_1: \m{3.2} = \m{-1} \m{2.8} + \m{6} = \m{-2.8} + \m{6} = \m{3.2} \] \[ P_2: \m{-1.5} = \m{-1} \m{7.5} + \m{6} = \m{-7.5} + \m{6} = \m{-1.5} \]
Going from \(B\) to \(A\).
\[ P_1: \m{2.8} = \m{-1} \m{3.2} + \m{6} = \m{-3.2} + \m{6} = \m{2.8} \] \[ P_2: \m{7.5} = \m{-1} \m{-1.5} + \m{6} = \m{1.5} + \m{6} = \m{7.5} \]
Now a third reference frame!
Let’s try a problem by brining in a third reference frame \(C\).
Movements description in 2D
In the 2D real plane, we can represent the position of individual points using two numbers after we choose a reference frame — origin and basis vectors.
Reference frame \(A\): origin \(\v{o}_{A}\) and orthonormal basis \(\{ \v{x}_A, \v{y}_A \}\), where \(\Vert \v{x}_{A} \Vert = \Vert \v{y}_{A} \Vert = 1\) and \(\v{x}_{A}^\top \v{x}_{B} = 0\).
Points in the plane are represented as column vectors \(\v{r}_i^{A} \in \mathbb{R}^2\) w.r.t to the reference frame \(A\). \[ \v{r}_{1}^{A} = \m{ r_{11}^A \\ r_{12}^A} = \m{ \v{x}_A^\top \v{r}_1^{A} \\ \v{y}_A^\top \v{r}_1^{A}} = \m{ \Vert \v{x}_A \Vert \Vert \v{r}_1^{A} \Vert \cos \left( \theta_1 \right) \\ \Vert \v{y}_A \Vert \Vert \v{r}_1^{A} \Vert \sin \left( \theta_1 \right)} = \m{ \Vert \v{r}_1^{A} \Vert \cos \left( \theta_1 \right) \\ \Vert \v{r}_1^{A} \Vert \sin \left( \theta_1 \right)} \]
Vector addition in 2D
Vector addition in \(\mathbb{R}^2\)
Vector scaling in 2D
Vector scaling in \(\mathbb{R}^2\)
Movements description in 2D
The representation of \(P_1\) and \(P_2\) in reference frame \(A\) is \(\v{r}_{1}^{A} = \m{3.2 \\ 2.1}\) and \(\v{r}_{1}^{A} = \m{-1.5 \\ 1.2}\), respectively.
The following is what these numbers mean:
\[ \v{r}_{1}^{A} = 3.2 \v{x}_A + 2.1 \v{y}_A \qquad \qquad \v{r}_{2}^{A} = -1.5 \v{x}_A + 1.2 \v{y}_A\]
Reference frame sharing the origin
Consider a second reference frame \(B\) shown in the figure. Both these reference frames share the same origin, but are rotated with respect to each other.
Note: \(\Vert \v{x}_{B} \Vert = \Vert \v{y}_{B} \Vert = 1\) and \(\v{x}_{B}^\top\v{y}_{B} = 0\).
The rotation of frame \(B\) with respect to frame \(A\) is given by a \(2 \times 2\) real matrix \(\v{R}_{B}^{A} \in \mathbb{R}^{2 \times 2}\).
\[ \v{R}_{B}^{A} = \m{\v{x}_{B}^{A} & \v{y}_{B}^{A}} = \m{\v{x}_{A}^\top \v{x}_{B} & \v{x}_{A}^\top \v{y}_{B} \\ \v{y}_{A}^\top \v{x}_{B} & \v{y}_{A}^\top \v{y}_{B}}\]
\[ \v{R}_{B}^{A} = \m{ \cos\left( \theta \right) & -\sin\left( \theta \right) \\ \sin\left( \theta \right) & \cos\left( \theta \right) }\]
Representation of \(P_1\) in references frames \(A\) and \(B\) are \(\v{r}_{1}^{A}\) and \(\v{r}_{1}^{B}\), respectively. \[ \v{r}_{1}^{A} = \m{r_{11}^{A} \\ r_{12}^{A}} \qquad \v{r}_{1}^{B} = \m{r_{11}^{B} \\ r_{12}^{B}} \qquad \v{r}_{1}^{A} = \v{R}_{B}^{A} \, \v{r}_1^{B} \]
Vectors, matrices and a few of their operations
Vectors \(\mathbb{R}^n\) are a order collection of real numbers \(\mathbb{R}\). We will also write them as a column and call them column vectors.
\[ \v{x} = \m{x_1 \\ x_2 \\ \vdots \\ x_n} \]
The transpose operation changes a column vector to a row vector and vice versa.
\[ \v{x}^\top = \m{x_1 & x_2 & \cdots & x_n} \qquad \qquad \left(\v{x}^\top\right)^\top = \v{x} \]
Addition and scaling rules and their geometric interpretation are the same as that in \(\mathbb{R}^2\).
2-Norm: Consider a vector \(\v{x} \in \mathbb{R}^n\). \(\Vert \v{x} \Vert = \sqrt{\sum_{i=1}^n x_i^2 }\)
Standard inner product: Consider two vectors, \(\v{x}, \v{y} \in \mathbb{R}^n\).
\[ \v{x}^\top\v{y} = \m{x_1 & x_2 & \cdots & x_n}\m{y_1 \\ y_2 \\ \vdots \\ y_n} = \sum_{i=1}^n x_iy_i = \Vert \v{x} \Vert \Vert \v{y} \Vert \cos \left(\theta\right)\]
where, \(\theta\) is the angle between \(\v{x}\) and \(\v{y}\).
Vectors, matrices and a few of their operations
Matrices \(\mathbb{R}^{p \times q}\) are a rectangular arrangement of numbers \(\mathbb{R}\).
\[ \v{A} = \m{a_{11} & a_{12} & \cdots & a_{1q} \\ a_{21} & a_{22} & \cdots & a_{2q} \\ \vdots & \vdots & \ddots & \vdots \\ a_{p1} & a_{p2} & \cdots & a_{pq}} \in \mathbb{R}^{p \times q}\]
where, \(a_{ij}\) is the component of the matrix in the \(i^{th}\) row and \(j^{th}\) column. When \(p = q\), \(\v{A}\) is a square matrix, else it’s a rectangular matrix.
With this definition, we can think of column vectors as a matrix with a single column, and a row vector as a matrix with a single row.
We can also think of the matrix \(\v{A}\) as a row of column vectors from \(\mathbb{R}^p\).
\[ \v{A} = \m{\v{a}_{1} & \v{a}_{2} & \cdots & \v{a}_{q}} \in \mathbb{R}^{p \times q}\]
where, \(\v{a}_{i} \in \mathbb{R}^p\) is the \(i^{th}\) column of \(\v{A}\).
Transpose of a matrix switches the rows and columns. \(\v{A}^\top \in \mathbb{R}^{q \times p}\).
\[ \v{A}^\top = \m{a_{11} & a_{21} & \cdots & a_{p1} \\ a_{12} & a_{22} & \cdots & a_{p2} \\ \vdots & \vdots & \ddots & \vdots \\ a_{1q} & a_{2q} & \cdots & a_{pq}} \in \mathbb{R}^{q \times p}\]
Vectors, matrices and a few of their operations
Matrix-vector product Let \(\v{A} \in \mathbb{R}^{p \times q}\) and \(\v{x} \in \mathbb{R}^{q \times 1}\). We can define this product as the following,
\[ \mathbb{R}^{p} \ni \v{y} = \v{A}\v{x} = \m{a_{11} & a_{12} & \cdots & a_{1q} \\ a_{21} & a_{22} & \cdots & a_{2q} \\ \vdots & \vdots & \ddots & \vdots \\ a_{p1} & a_{p2} & \cdots & a_{pq}} \m{x_1 \\ x_2 \\ \vdots \\ x_q} = \m{\sum_{i=1}^qa_{1i} x_i \\ \sum_{i=1}^qa_{2i} x_i \\ \vdots \\ \sum_{i=1}^qa_{qi} x_i}\]
We can also view \(\v{A}\v{x}\) as the following,
\[ \v{y} = \v{A}\v{x} = \m{\v{a}_{1} & \v{a}_{2} & \cdots & \v{a}_{q}} \m{x_1 \\ x_2 \\ \vdots \\ x_q} = \sum_{i=1}^q x_i \v{a}_{i}\]
Matrix-Matrix product Let \(\v{A} \in \mathbb{R}^{p \times q}\) and \(\v{B} \in \mathbb{R}^{q \times r}\). Then we can define the product of these two matrices as the following,
\[ \mathbb{R}^{p \times r} \ni \v{C} = \m{c_{11} & c_{12} & \cdots & c_{1r} \\ c_{21} & c_{22} & \cdots & c_{2r} \\ \vdots & \vdots & \ddots & \vdots \\ c_{p1} & c_{p2} & \cdots & c_{pr}} = \v{A}\v{B} = \m{a_{11} & a_{12} & \cdots & a_{1q} \\ a_{21} & a_{22} & \cdots & a_{2q} \\ \vdots & \vdots & \ddots & \vdots \\ a_{p1} & a_{p2} & \cdots & a_{pq}} \m{b_{11} & b_{12} & \cdots & b_{1r} \\ b_{21} & b_{22} & \cdots & b_{2r} \\ \vdots & \vdots & \ddots & \vdots \\ b_{q1} & b_{p2} & \cdots & b_{qr}} \qquad c_{ij} = \sum_{k} a_{ik}b_{kj}\]
Matrix multiplication \(\v{A}\v{B}\) is allowed if only if the number of columns of \(\v{A}\) equals the number of columns of \(\v{B}\).
Let’s do an example
Find the following.
Let’s now shift the origin
What is \(\v{R}_{B}^{A}\)? \(\longrightarrow \m{1 & 0 \\ 0 & 1} = \v{I}\)
What is \(\v{r}_{P}^{B}\)? \(\longrightarrow \m{1 \\ 4}\)
What is \(\v{R}_{C}^{B}\)? \(\longrightarrow \m{\frac{\sqrt{3}}{2} & -\frac{1}{2} \\ \frac{1}{2} & \frac{\sqrt{3}}{2}}\)
What is \(\v{r}_{P}^{C}\)? \(\longrightarrow \m{1 \\ 4}\)
How do we change between references frames \(A\) and \(C\)?
We need the rotation and the translation. \(\left( \v{R}_{B}^{A}, \v{o}_{B}^{A}\right)\).
\[ \v{r}_{P}^{A} = \v{R}_{B}^{A} \v{r}_{P}^{B} + \v{o}_{B}^{A} \] \[ \v{r}_{P}^{B} = {\v{R}_{B}^{A}}^{-1} \left( \v{r}_{P}^{A} - \v{o}_{B}^{A} \right) \]
\[\implies \v{R}_{A}^{B} = {\v{R}_{B}^{A}}^{-1} = {\v{R}_{B}^{A}}^{\top} \qquad \v{o}_{A}^{B} = -{\v{R}_{B}^{A}}^{\top}\v{o}_{B}^{A}\]
Homogenous Coordinates and Transformation
\[ \v{r}_{P}^{A} = \v{R}_{B}^{A} \v{r}_{P}^{B} + \v{o}_{B}^{A} \qquad \qquad \v{r}_{P}^{B} = {\v{R}_{B}^{A}}^{\top} \left( \v{r}_{P}^{A} - \v{o}_{B}^{A} \right) \]
Note that rotation is represented by a matrix multiplication operation, while translation is represented by vector addition.
Homogenous coordinations and transformation
We can express this entire transformation through a multiplication operation if we choose the homogenous coordinate representation, and we can represent both translation and rotation in a single matrix – homogenous transformation matrix.
Let \(\tilde{\v{r}}_{P}^{C}\) be the homogenous coordinates of the point \(P\) in reference frame \(C\): \(\quad \tilde{\v{r}}_{P}^{C} = \m{\v{r}_{P}^{C} \\ 1}\).
The homogenous transformation matrix representing frame \(C\) w.r.t to \(A\) is given by,
\[ \v{H}_{C}^{A} = \m{\v{R}_{C}^{A} & \v{o}_{C}^{A} \\ \v{0} & 1}\]
We can obtain the homogenous representation of \(P\) in \(A\) from \(\v{r}_{P}^{C}\) as follows,
\[ \tilde{\v{r}}_{P}^{A} = \v{H}_{C}^{A} \tilde{\v{r}}_{P}^{C} \quad \implies \quad \tilde{\v{r}}_{P}^{C} = \v{H}_{A}^{C} \tilde{\v{r}}_{P}^{A} = {\v{H}_{C}^{A}}^{-1} \tilde{\v{r}}_{P}^{A}\]
What is \({\v{H}_{C}^{A}}^{-1}\)? \(\longrightarrow \m{{\v{R}_{C}^{A}}^\top & -{\v{R}_{C}^{A}}^\top \v{o}_{C}^{A} \\ \v{0} & 1}\)
Ideas from 2D generalize to 3D
Each coordinate is an inner product: drop a perpendicular onto that axis, and the length you cut off is \(\v{x}_{A}^\top \v{r}_{P}^{A}\).
Ideas from 2D generalize to 3D
Two reference frames, rotated and translated with respect to each other. The same point \(P\) — two sets of numbers. Switch which frame the world is drawn in: the picture changes, the numbers do not.
Ideas from 2D generalize to 3D
The representation of a reference frame \(B\) w.r.t. \(A\) requires the rotation matrix \(\v{R}_{B}^{A}\) and the translation of the origin \(\v{o}_{B}^{A} \in \mathbb{R}^3\).
\[ \v{R}_{B}^{A} = \m{ \v{x}_{A}^\top \v{x}_B & \v{x}_{A}^\top \v{y}_B & \v{x}_{A}^\top \v{z}_B \\ \v{y}_{A}^\top \v{x}_B & \v{y}_{A}^\top \v{y}_B & \v{y}_{A}^\top \v{z}_B \\ \v{z}_{A}^\top \v{x}_B & \v{z}_{A}^\top \v{y}_B & \v{z}_{A}^\top \v{z}_B} \in \mathbb{R}^{3 \times 3}\]
The transformation between \(A\) and \(B\) is given by the following,
\[ \v{r}_{P}^{A} = \v{R}_{B}^{A} \v{r}_{P}^{B} + \v{o}_{B}^{A} \qquad \qquad \v{r}_{P}^{B} = {\v{R}_{B}^{A}}^{\top} \left( \v{r}_{P}^{A} - \v{o}_{B}^{A} \right) \]
In the homogenous representation, we have \(\tilde{\v{r}}_{P}^{B} = \m{\v{r}_{P}^{B} \\ 1}\). And the homogenous transformation matrix \(\v{H}_{B}^{A} \in \mathbb{R}^{4 \times 4}\).
\[\tilde{\v{r}}_{P}^{A} = \v{H}_{B}^{A} \tilde{\v{r}}_{P}^{B} \quad \implies \quad \tilde{\v{r}}_{P}^{B} = \v{H}_{A}^{B} \tilde{\v{r}}_{P}^{A} = {\v{H}_{B}^{A}}^{-1} \tilde{\v{r}}_{P}^{A}\]