On mechanical mixed potential, content and co-content

In this paper a novel co-energy modelling framework is presented for a relevant class of linear and nonlinear mechanical systems. The approach uses the classical Brayton-Moser equations which are deduced from a (port-)Hamiltonian description. The approach allows classical results from electrical circuit synthesis and analysis to be carried over exactly to the mechanical domain. It also enables one to apply (nonlinear) control techniques like Power Shaping as recently proposed in [7]. Illustrative examples are provided to facilitate the theoretical developments.