How to Compute Center of Mass for a Portion of a Model?

I would like to compute the center of mass of just a portion of a model that I have for the golf swing. My model consists of a golfers body and a club. I am interested in calculating the center of mass of the club as it is required to calculate a moment of force acting on it.

The model has a flexible club that is composed of 12 segments with revolute joints joining them. I would like to be able to calculate and export the data for the position of the club center of mass. Is there a function to do this without exporting each individual segment com and calculating the center of mass of the combination separately?

Answer 1

[Yatharth]

Hi Dieter,

I understand that you have a multibody model (golfer's body and golf club) but you want to compute the center of mass of the golf club only.

The following MATLAB Answer links contain similar questions that would be helpful for you.

1. Using "Solid Block" to get the center of mass : https://www.mathworks.com/matlabcentral/answers/247322-is-it-possible-to-compute-the-mass-of-object-in-simmechanics?s_tid=answers_rc1-1_p1_Topic
2. Using "Inertia Sensor Block" : https://www.mathworks.com/matlabcentral/answers/631109-how-to-calculate-the-common-center-of-mass-position-of-multiple-rigid-bodies-in-simscape-multibody

For more information you can read about "Simscape Multibody" from here. https://www.mathworks.com/help/sm/index.html

I hope this helps.