Passive gyroscopic stabilization of a solid body simulated using a computational spatial model

This thesis examines the spatial motion of a simple solid body with a gyroscopic stabilizer following a defined path. The body's motion is determined using a simplified spatial computational spatial model. The track was designed to be equivalent to a single swerving maneuver on a roadway and the body's motion was analyzed at a multitude of nodes before and after the addition of a gyroscope. The question was to determine whether the addition of a fixed gyroscope could be used to passively reduce the magnitude of the subsequent spatial motion of a body during a maneuver. The simulation found that the body's motion overwhelmingly dominated that of the gyroscope due to the very large moments of inertia of the body. While gyroscopic effects were seen, the computational model predicts that they will minimally affect the body.