Cohomological Structure of Principal SO(3)-Bundles over Real Curves with Applications to Robot Orientation Control

Álvaro Antón-Sancho ()
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Álvaro Antón-Sancho: Department of Mathematics and Experimental Science, Fray Luis de León University College of Education, C/Tirso de Molina, 44, 47010 Valladolid, Spain

Mathematics, 2025, vol. 13, issue 19, 1-45

Abstract: This paper provides advances in the study of principal SO ( 3 ) -bundles over smooth projective real curves, with applications to robot manipulation orientation. The work introduces a novel specific classification of these bundles, establishing a bijection between isomorphism classes and specific direct sums of cyclic groups. The explicit computation of the cohomology ring H * ( P , Z ) for a principal SO ( 3 ) -bundle P over a real curve X , revealing its complete structure and torsion subgroups, is a major contribution of the paper. This paper further demonstrates that the equivariant cohomology H SO ( 3 ) * ( P , Z ) is isomorphic to H * ( X , Z ) ⊗ H * ( B SO ( 3 ) , Z ) , with implications for connections and curvature. These results are then applied to robotics, showing that for manipulators with revolute joints, a principal SO ( 3 ) -bundle encoding end-effector orientation whose second Stiefel–Whitney class characterizes the obstruction to continuous orientation control exists. For robots with spherical wrists, the configuration space factors as a product, allowing for the decomposition of connections with control implications. Finally, a mechanical connection is constructed that minimizes kinetic energy, with its curvature identifying configurations where small perturbations cause large orientation changes.

Keywords: principal bundles; characteristic classes; equivariant cohomology; robot orientation control; mechanical connections (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: C (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
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