How do I sense the motion between two coordinate frames in a model using SimMechanics 8.2 (R2013b)?

I have a SimMechanics model and I wish to sense the relative translation and rotation of a follower frame with respect to base frame.

Answer 1

[MathWorks Support Team]

To obtain the relative motion between two coordinate frames in SimMechanics 8.2 (R2013b), use a Transform Sensor block. Using this block, one can sense both translational and rotational position, velocity, and acceleration between any two frames in a model.

Please refer to the example model attached "double_pendulum_transform_sensor.slx" that uses a Transform Sensor block to sense the lower link translational position with respect to the World frame.

To sense motion, first connect the base and follower frame ports to the World Frame and lower link subsystem blocks. Then, select the translation parameters to sense inside the Transform Sensor block. By selecting Y and Z, this model senses translation along the Y and Z axes, respectively.