MOMENTS OF INERTIA AND PRODUCTS OF INERTIA OF A RIGID BODY - Design principles of measurement systems

Given a physical system which can be described as a rigid body (i.e. an ideal solid body of finite size in which deformation is neglected), the mass properties are defined by ten parameters. The mass properties of a rigid body are by definition. -the mass (one parameter), -the location of the centre of mass (three parameters) and -the inertia tensor (six parameters). To describe mathematically the spatial motion of a rigid body subject to forces and moments, the mass properties have to be known. Given a physical system described by a rigid body, and following a classical practice in Physics, one could think of obtaining the mass properties by a series of proper measurements. The book addresses how to perform at best such measurements.