Arbitrary-Order Hermite Interpolation of Rigid-Motion Jets via Hyper-Multidual Quaternions
Authors: Daniel Condurache
Organizations: Technical University of Iasi, D. Mangeron Street no. 59, 700050 Iasi, Romania · Center for Industrial Robots Simulation and Testing, Technical University of Cluj-Napoca, Memorandumului 14, 400114 Cluj-Napoca, Romania
We study bilateral interpolation of finite-order rigid-motion jets represented by unit dual quaternions. An order-n multidual (MD) algebra is the truncated polynomial algebra R[ε]/(εn+1); hyper-multidual (HMD) quaternions are dual quaternions with coefficients in this algebra. Temporal HMD transforms encode a pose and its derivatives, whereas a generic HMD curve need not be the temporal jet of its pose projection; we call this requirement holonomicity. We show that a temporal transform and its relative descriptor are unitary and derive recursive coefficient constraints, together with a local realizability converse in an admissible logarithm chart. We then extend screw linear interpolation (ScLERP) algebraically to unit HMD quaternions. Although it matches complete endpoint transforms, direct HMD--ScLERP is generically non-holonomic for arbitrary endpoint jets. We give a coefficient criterion and explicit endpoint and first-order interior contact defects. A holonomic alternative is obtained by mapping endpoint transforms to logarithmic dual-quaternion coordinates, applying the degree-(2n+1) Hermite polynomial that matches derivatives through order n, and lifting by the exponential. HMD arithmetic also recovers higher-order rigid-motion acceleration fields without explicit differentiation of dexp. Rotation and full SE(3) tests through second order, with an additional third-order polynomial check, reproduce the stated defects and endpoint jets.
Figures & tables
s
0
0.25
0.50
0.75
1
∥C1∥
1.166190
0.890634
0.773633
0.890634
1.166190
Table 1: First-order contact defect for the noncommuting rotation-only test. The norm is the Euclidean norm of the four real quaternion coefficients.
s
0
0.2
0.4
0.6
0.8
1
∥C1∥
1.073546
0.846771
0.702285
0.696668
0.833194
1.056894
Table 2: First-order contact defect for the screw-motion test ( 96 ). Norms are Euclidean norms on the eight real coefficients of the dual quaternion.
Identity
Residual
∥QH(0)−q0loc(0)∥
0
∥Q˙H(0)−q˙0loc(0)∥
5.11×10−14
∥Q¨H(0)−q¨0loc(0)∥
2.31×10−10
∥QH(1)−q1loc(0)∥
0
∥Q˙H(1)−q˙1loc(0)∥
5.17×10−12
∥Q¨H(1)−q¨1loc(0)∥
2.67×10−8
Table 3: Full quintic SE(3) endpoint-jet check on the screw data ( 96 ) and logarithmic accelerations ( 97 ). Residuals are Euclidean norms on the eight real coefficients of the dual quaternion.
Figure 1: First-order contact defect ∥C1(s)∥ for the direct HMD–ScLERP on the rotation-only test (solid) and the screw-motion test (dashed). Markers coincide with the sampled values of Tables 1 – 2 . The dotted line at 0 is the profile of the cubic HMD–Hermite construction ( 80 ) in either case.
Intelligent Automation Centre, Wolfson School of Mechanical, Electrical & Manufacturing Engineering, Loughborough University, Loughborough, UK · Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Tabriz, 51666-16471, Tabriz, Iran