An Application of Sol on Variable-Structure Systems with Higher Index

This case study presents the model of an ideal trebuchet. Following the object-oriented modeling paradigm of Modelica, the trebuchet is composed out of ideal elements that belong to a planar mechanical library. The corresponding system of DAEs has index 3. During simulation, the model undergoes also various structural changes that manipulate the number of continuous-time state variables. Furthermore, elastic and inelastic collisions need to be modeled by force impulses. The model is provided in Sol, a derivative language of Modelica, specially designed for research in variables structure systems. Keywords: Variable-Structure Systems; Index Reduction; Multi-Body Dynamics.