Thread Subject:

Rotation matrix

Hi.

Could someone please help me.
I have to random vectors u and v in 3d space. They have the same origin and equal length. These vectors define points on a sphere. I want to compute the matrix that rotates the vector u to the direction of the vector v and then use this matrix to rotate another random vector.
In Mathematica there is the RotationMatrix [{u,v}] that gives you the rotation matrix.
How can I accomplish this in Matlab ?

Thanks.

"Widt" wrote in message <imkgig$qiq$1@fred.mathworks.com>...
> Hi.
>
> Could someone please help me.
> I have to random vectors u and v in 3d space. They have the same origin and equal length. These vectors define points on a sphere. I want to compute the matrix that rotates the vector u to the direction of the vector v and then use this matrix to rotate another random vector.
> In Mathematica there is the RotationMatrix [{u,v}] that gives you the rotation matrix.
> How can I accomplish this in Matlab ?
>
> Thanks.

1. Take the cross product of those two vectors u and v. It gives you the rotation axis and angle (be careful on the sign convention) - help CROSS.

2. Use Rodiguez's rotation formula to build the rotation matrix (see Wikipedia for example).

Be aware that the rotation vector and matrix are NOT unique.

Bruno

"Bruno Luong" <b.luong@fogale.findmycountry> wrote in message <imkqc3$nfa$1@fred.mathworks.com>...
>
>
> 1. Take the cross product of those two vectors u and v. It gives you the rotation axis and angle (be careful on the sign convention) - help CROSS.
>
> 2. Use Rodiguez's rotation formula to build the rotation matrix (see Wikipedia for example).
================

And in fact, I posted code here recently, for constructing the rotation matrix using Rodrigues' formula


http://www.mathworks.com/matlabcentral/newsreader/view_thread/304649#825856

"Bruno Luong" <b.luong@fogale.findmycountry> wrote in message <imkqc3$nfa$1@fred.mathworks.com>...
> "Widt" wrote in message <imkgig$qiq$1@fred.mathworks.com>...
> > Hi.
> >
> > Could someone please help me.
> > I have to random vectors u and v in 3d space. They have the same origin and equal length. These vectors define points on a sphere. I want to compute the matrix that rotates the vector u to the direction of the vector v and then use this matrix to rotate another random vector.
> > In Mathematica there is the RotationMatrix [{u,v}] that gives you the rotation matrix.
> > How can I accomplish this in Matlab ?
> >
> > Thanks.
>
> 1. Take the cross product of those two vectors u and v. It gives you the rotation axis and angle (be careful on the sign convention) - help CROSS.
>
> 2. Use Rodiguez's rotation formula to build the rotation matrix (see Wikipedia for example).
>
> Be aware that the rotation vector and matrix are NOT unique.
>
> Bruno

Just to make sure. I will find the angle using the dot product of u and v. The function cross only gives the vector perpendicular to u and v, right.

Thanks

"Widt" wrote in message <imkvm8$eij$1@fred.mathworks.com>...
>
>
> Just to make sure. I will find the angle using the dot product of u and v. The function cross only gives the vector perpendicular to u and v, right.

No. cross(u,v)/norm(u)/norm(v) will give a vector perpendicular to u and v, but it will also have magnitude sin(theta) where theta is the rotation angle. So, it should be sufficient to use CROSS

"Matt J" wrote in message <iml0h0$r0n$1@fred.mathworks.com>...
> "Widt" wrote in message <imkvm8$eij$1@fred.mathworks.com>...
> >
> >
> > Just to make sure. I will find the angle using the dot product of u and v. The function cross only gives the vector perpendicular to u and v, right.
>
> No. cross(u,v)/norm(u)/norm(v) will give a vector perpendicular to u and v, but it will also have magnitude sin(theta) where theta is the rotation angle. So, it should be sufficient to use CROSS

Thank you all for your help. This is how I've done it.


function [R]=rotationmatrix(u,v)
uvangle=acos(dot(u,v));%calculate the angle between u and v
k=cross(u,v);%calculate the cross product between u and v
kx=[0 -k(1,3) k(1,2);k(1,3) 0 -k(1,1);-k(1,2) k(1,1) 0];%the cross product in matrix form
R=eye(3,3)+(kx.*sin(uvangle))+((1-cos(uvangle))*kx^2);%Calculate the rotation matrix with Rodrigues' rotation formula

I can't see using the dot product to find the angle is any worse.

Thanks.