Gimbal lock occurs when the axes of two of the three gimbals needed to compensate for rotations in three dimensional space are driven to the same direction. A gimbal is a mechanical device that allows the rotation of an object in multiple dimensions. ...

For example, assume a sensing platform on an aircraft flying due north has its three gimbal axes mutually at right angles, i.e., Pitch, Roll and Yaw angles each zero. If the aircraft pitches up 90 degrees, the Yaw and Roll axes become parallel, and changes about Yaw can no longer be compensated for. This problem may be overcome by use of a fourth gimbal, driven so as to maintain a large angle between Roll and Yaw gimbal axes.

A similar situation occurs with the use of the Azimuth angle (rotation clockwise from North) to define a direction. This works everywhere on earth except at the poles (latitude 90° north or south). Azimuth becomes meaningless there because the poles are singularity points, where all directions in terms of Azimuth are South (or North). In other words, if you were standing on the north pole, no matter what direction you turn your body you will always be facing south. Look up singularity in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ...

See also

• Charts on SO(3)
• Flight dynamics
• Quaternions and spatial rotation

In mathematics, the special orthogonal group in three dimensions, otherwise known as the rotation group SO(3), is a naturally occurring example of a manifold. ... Flight dynamics is the science of air and space vehicle orientation and control in three dimensions. ... Quaternions provide a convenient mathematical notation for representing orientations and rotations of objects. ...

External links

• Gimbal lock during the mission of Apollo 11
• Gimbal lock constraints and the Apollo IMU (inertial measurement unit)