Anyone know any good websites that thoroughly explain how to do collision response on a rigid object where the object itself is attached to another object with a joint? Specifically, when the other object in question is a fixed surface. I looked around google but came up empty; I guess I''m not using the right keywords.

The ODE engine is a very good resource IMHO. It''s a free physics engine you can use as it is, or you can check out the source code, if you wanna know how it all works.

These papers are of interest too:

• "Dynamics, Friction, and Complementarity Problems" by D.E. Stewart and J.C. Trinkle.


• "An Implicit Time-Stepping Scheme for Rigid Body Dynamics with Coulomb Friction" also by D.E. Stewart and J.C. Trinkle.

Basically you''re in for some linear algebra and LCP solving.

"Articulated Rigid Body Dynamics" is a good keyword for joint stuff btw.