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Problem Statement

Consider two particles, A and B, moving in $\mathbb{R}^3$. Their position vectors, $\mathbf{r}_A(t)$ and $\mathbf{r}_B(t)$, respectively, are governed by the following second-order ordinary differential equations (ODEs):

$\frac{d^2 \mathbf{r}_A}{dt^2} = \mathbf{a}_A$ $\frac{d^2 \mathbf{r}_B}{dt^2} = \mathbf{a}_B$

where $\mathbf{a}A$ and $\mathbf{a}_B$ are constant acceleration vectors in $\mathbb{R}^3$. Let $\mathbf{r}_A(t) = (x{1A}(t), x_{2A}(t), x_{3A}(t))$ and $\mathbf{r}B(t) = (x{1B}(t), x_{2B}(t), x_{3B}(t))$.

Let $\mathbf{r}{A0} = \mathbf{r}_A(0)$, $\mathbf{v}{A0} = \frac{d\mathbf{r}A}{dt}(0)$ denote the initial position and velocity vectors of particle A, respectively. Similarly, let $\mathbf{r}{B0} = \mathbf{r}B(0)$, $\mathbf{v}{B0} = \frac{d\mathbf{r}_B}{dt}(0)$ denote the initial position and velocity vectors of particle B, respectively.

Furthermore, let $t^ \in \mathbb{R}$, $t^ > 0$, be the time at which the two particles occupy the same position; i.e., $\mathbf{r}A(t^) = \mathbf{r}_B(t^)$. We constrain the initial velocity of particle B such that $\lVert \mathbf{v}{B0} \rVert = s_b$, where $s_b$ is a constant scalar.

Objective

Determine the symbolic expressions for the components of the initial velocity vector $\mathbf{v}{B0}$, denoted by $v{b1}$, $v_{b2}$, $v_{b3}$, and the time of coincidence $t^*$, given the initial conditions, the constant accelerations, and the velocity magnitude constraint for particle B. Express the general solution in terms of known quantities.

Mathematical Formulation

Position Vector Solutions

Given the constant acceleration, and defining $\mathbf{v}_A(t) = \frac{d\mathbf{r}_A}{dt}$, $\mathbf{v}_B(t) = \frac{d\mathbf{r}_B}{dt}$, the position vectors of the particles are:

$$ \mathbf{r}A(t) = \mathbf{r}{A0} + \mathbf{v}{A0} t + \frac{1}{2} \mathbf{a}_A t^2 $$ $$ \mathbf{r}_B(t) = \mathbf{r}{B0} + \mathbf{v}_{B0} t + \frac{1}{2} \mathbf{a}_B t^2 $$

Where: $\mathbf{v}A(t) = \mathbf{v}{A0} + \mathbf{a}A t$ and $\mathbf{v}_B(t) = \mathbf{v}{B0} + \mathbf{a}_B t$

Coincidence Condition

The particles coincide when $\mathbf{r}A(t^) = \mathbf{r}_B(t^)$, which expands to: $$ \mathbf{r}{A0} + \mathbf{v}{A0} t^ + \frac{1}{2} \mathbf{a}_A (t^)^2 = \mathbf{r}{B0} + \mathbf{v}_{B0} t^ + \frac{1}{2} \mathbf{a}_B (t^)^2 $$

Magnitude Constraint

The magnitude of the initial velocity vector $\mathbf{v}_{B0}$ is constrained by $s_b$:

$$ \lVert \mathbf{v}_{B0} \rVert = s_b $$

Component-wise Equations

$$ \frac{dx_{1A}}{dt}(0) t^ + \frac{1}{2} \frac{d^2 x_{1A}}{dt^2}(0) (t^)^2 = x_{1B}(0) + \frac{dx_{1B}}{dt}(0) t^ + \frac{1}{2} \frac{d^2 x_{1B}}{dt^2}(0) (t^)^2 $$ $$ x_{2A}(0) + \frac{dx_{2A}}{dt}(0) t^ + \frac{1}{2} \frac{d^2 x_{2A}}{dt^2}(0) (t^)^2 = x_{2B}(0) + \frac{dx_{2B}}{dt}(0) t^ + \frac{1}{2} \frac{d^2 x_{2B}}{dt^2}(0) (t^)^2 $$ $$ x_{3A}(0) + \frac{dx_{3A}}{dt}(0) t^ + \frac{1}{2} \frac{d^2 x_{3A}}{dt^2}(0) (t^)^2 = x_{3B}(0) + \frac{dx_{3B}}{dt}(0) t^ + \frac{1}{2} \frac{d^2 x_{3B}}{dt^2}(0) (t^)^2 $$

Component Constraint

$$ v_{b1}^2 + v_{b2}^2 + v_{b3}^2 = s_b^2 $$ Where: $v_{b1}$, $v_{b2}$, and $v_{b3}$ are the components of $\mathbf{v}{B0}$. The components of the acceleration vectors are $\left( \frac{d^2 x{1A}}{dt^2}, \frac{d^2 x_{2A}}{dt^2}, \frac{d^2 x_{3A}}{dt^2} \right) = \mathbf{a}A$ and $\left( \frac{d^2 x{1B}}{dt^2}, \frac{d^2 x_{2B}}{dt^2}, \frac{d^2 x_{3B}}{dt^2} \right) = \mathbf{a}_B$

Assumptions

Note

If closed-form solutions are not feasible, discuss methods to numerically approximate the solution to this problem.