Main Content

randrot

Uniformly distributed random rotations

Since R2023b

Description

R = randrot returns a unit quaternion drawn from a uniform distribution of random rotations.

R = randrot(m) returns an m-by-m matrix of unit quaternions drawn from a uniform distribution of random rotations.

example

R = randrot(m1,...,mN) returns an m1-by-...-by-mN array of random unit quaternions, where m1,…, mN indicate the size of each dimension. For example, randrot(3,4) returns a 3-by-4 matrix of random unit quaternions.

example

R = randrot([m1,...,mN]) returns an m1-by-...-by-mN array of random unit quaternions, where m1,…, mN indicate the size of each dimension. For example, randrot([3,4]) returns a 3-by-4 matrix of random unit quaternions.

Examples

collapse all

Generate a 3-by-3 matrix of uniformly distributed random rotations.

r = randrot(3)
r = 3x3 quaternion array
      0.17446 +  0.59506i -  0.73295j +  0.27976k      0.69704 - 0.060589i +  0.68679j -  0.19695k      0.35191 +  0.74478i +  0.52322j -  0.21842k
      0.21908 -  0.89875i -    0.298j +  0.23548k    -0.049744 +  0.59691i +  0.56459j +  0.56786k      0.17527 -  0.46955i +  0.52986j -  0.68414k
       0.6375 +  0.49338i -  0.24049j +  0.54068k       0.2979 -  0.53568i +  0.31819j +  0.72323k     -0.30189 -  0.22864i -  0.83159j +  0.40626k

Create a vector of 500 random quaternions. Use rotatepoint to visualize the distribution of the random rotations applied to point (1, 0, 0).

q = randrot(500,1);

pt = rotatepoint(q, [1 0 0]);

figure
scatter3(pt(:,1), pt(:,2), pt(:,3))
axis equal

Figure contains an axes object. The axes object contains an object of type scatter.

Input Arguments

collapse all

Size of square quaternion matrix, specified as an integer value. If m is 0 or negative, then R is returned as an empty matrix.

Data Types: single | double | int8 | int16 | int32 | int64 | uint8 | uint16 | uint32 | uint64

Size of each dimension, specified as two or more comma-separated integer values. If the size of any dimension is 0 or negative, then R is returned as an empty array.

Example: randrot(2,3) returns a 2-by-3 matrix of random quaternions.

Data Types: single | double | int8 | int16 | int32 | int64 | uint8 | uint16 | uint32 | uint64

Vector of size of each dimension, specified as a row vector of two or more integer values. If the size of any dimension is 0 or negative, then R is returned as an empty array.

Example: randrot([2,3]) returns a 2-by-3 matrix of random quaternions.

Data Types: single | double | int8 | int16 | int32 | int64 | uint8 | uint16 | uint32 | uint64

Output Arguments

collapse all

Random quaternions, returned as a quaternion object or an array of quaternion objects.

References

[1] Shoemake, K. "Uniform Random Rotations." Graphics Gems III (K. David, ed.). New York: Academic Press, 1992.

Extended Capabilities

C/C++ Code Generation
Generate C and C++ code using MATLAB® Coder™.

Version History

Introduced in R2023b

See Also