Mechanical Systems Simulation (MSS) is the technology associated with the analysis of systems undergoing large overall motion. An automobile performing a lane change maneuver at 55 mph and a space shuttle orbiting the earth while performing satellite retrievel, are typical examples. The stability and efficiency of the numerical solutions for these systems and consequently the reliability of systems analyzed, is dependent on the choice of system coordinates, equation formation procedures, and numerical methods. Yet commercially available MSS codes only support, even espouse, a single choice. This project is to develop a symbolic computation based software that will allow for user-defined choices for these factors. In stages, the necessary functions and data structures for symbolic expression manipulation, system definition, coordinates selection, equation formulation, and numerical methods will be created. System equations will be symbolically generated and stored in canonical form for subsequent translation into formats for viewing the equations (TEX) or computing the system response (FORTRAN, C++).
