Geometry and control of the nonholonomic integrator: An electrodynamics analogy

We consider some generalizations of the classical nonholonomic integrator and give a geometric approach to characterize controllability for these systems. We use Stokes’ theorem and results from complex analysis to obtain necessary and sufficient conditions for controllability. Furthermore, we show that optimal trajectories of certain minimum energy optimal control problems defined on these systems can be identified with the trajectory of a charged particle in an electromagnetic field.