Simulation and control of rigid bodies are important aspects of modern aerospace science. Recent decades have seen considerable development of algorithms known as Lie group variational integrators which can be used for simulation of a controlled rigid body. These methods draw both on classical and numerical aspects of mathematics.

In this project we develop C++ code for a Lie group variational integrator with the goal of simulating a Tie Fighter, a fictional spacecraft from Star Wars.

An interesting challenge in this problem is the coordination of the physics, computer science, and mathematical aspects of the simulation. Particular challenges in this problem include interpreting and implementing pseudocode from mathematics publications; mathematically describing the shape and mass distribution of a Tie Fighter and calculating associated physical quantities such as the inertia tensor; understanding aspects of pure mathematics which appear in the problem such as matrix Lie groups and Lie algebras; designing and testing thrust sequences for the Tie-Fighter; and creating useful visualizations of output from the C++ program. Results will be presented in poster format.