Axis/Angle Representation

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 Special Orthogonal Matrices

SO(3) = R 2 R3⇥3 | RT R = RRT = I, det R = 1

Special Orthogonal group
in 3 dimensions

● Coordinates for SO(3)

1 Rotation matrices
2 Euler angles
3 Axis angle parameterization
4 Exponential coordinates
5 Quaternions

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 Euler’s Theorem
Rotations
Any displacement of a rigid body such that a
point on the rigid body, say O, remains
fixed, is equivalent to a rotation about a
fixed axis through the point O.

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 Rotation with O fixed

a3
P
P’ !
OP = p1 a1 + p2 a2 + p3 a3
O P
a2 O
a1
!0
OP = q1 a1 + q2 a2 + q3 a3

2 3 2 32 3
q1 R11 R12 R13 p1
q 6 7 6
6 7 6
6q2 7 = 6R21 R22
76 7
76 7
R23 7 6p2 7 p
6 7 6 76 7
4 5 4 54 5
q3 R31 R32 R33 p3 q = Rp
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Proof of Euler’s Theorem
q = Rp

Is there a point p that maps onto itself?

If there were such a point p …

p = Rp

Solve eigenvalue problem Verify λ=1 is

an eigenvalue
Rp = p for any R
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How does one find the rotation
matrix for a general axis and
angle of rotation?

Note we already know the answer if the

axis of rotation is one of the coordinate
axes.

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 Given u and φ...

u
p φ

v (p.u)u
after rotation
(p.u)u

p-(p.u)u
φ
vcos φ + u × vsin φ pcos φ + uuT (1 − cos φ )p + u × psin φ
(p − (p.u)u) cos φ +
u × (p − (p.u)u) sin φ

€ after rotation
€
w=u×v
€
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 1-1 correspondence between any 3×1
vector and a 3×3 skew symmetric matrix
! a $ ! b $ ! a2 b3 − a3b2 $
# 1 & # 1 & # &
# a2 & × # b2 & = # a3b1 − a1b3 &
# & # & # &
#" a3 &% #" b3 %& #" −a2 b1 + a1b2 &%
! 0 −a3 a2 $! b1 $
a =#
#
a3 0
&#
−a1 &# b2
&
&
# &# &
#" −a2 a1 0 &%#" b3 &%

linear operator
For any vector b Notation
a× b = A3x3 b A
a^
â
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 Given u and φ...

u
p φ

v (p.u)u

(p.u)u

p-(p.u)u
φ
vcos φ + u × vsin φ pcos φ + uuT (1 − cos φ )p + u × psin φ
(p − (p.u)u) cos φ +
u × (p − (p.u)u) sin φ
û
€
û €
w=u×v
€
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 Axis/Angle to Rotation Matrix

Rotation of a generic vector p about u through φ

Rp = p cos + uuT (1 cos )p + ûp sin
Axis of rotation u
Rotation angle
Rodrigues’ formula
Rot(u, ) = I cos + uuT (1 cos ) + û sin

1. Set u to be a unit vector along x (or y or z). Verify

result is the same as Rot(x, φ).

2. Is the (axis, angle) to rotation matrix map onto? 1-1? Image from wikipedia

Rot(u, ) and Rot( u, 2⇡ )?

Euler’s theorem restrict φ to the interval [0,π]?
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 Axis/Angle to Rotation Matrix

Rotation of a generic vector p about u through φ

Rp = p cos + uuT (1 cos )p + ûp sin
Axis of rotation u
Rotation angle
Rodrigues’ formula
Rot(u, ) = I cos + uuT (1 cos ) + û sin

Lets extract the axis and the angle from the rotation matrix, R
Verify
⌧ 1 1
cos = û = (R RT ) (u, without solving for eigenvector)
2 2 sin

1. (axis, angle) to rotation matrix map is many to 1 π

2. restricting angle to the interval [0,π] makes it 1-1
except for
⌧ =3 =0 no unique axis SO(3)
⌧= 1 =⇡ u or -u
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