tolgabirdal/averagi​ng_quaternions

Version 1.1.0.0 (3.56 KB) by Tolga Birdal
This function computes the average (mean) quaternion.
5.0
(4)
1.7K Downloads
Updated 17 Aug 2015
View License on GitHub

Since quaternions are not regular vectors, but rather representations of orientation, an average quaternion cannot just be obtained by taking a weighted mean. This function implements the work done by F. Landis Merkley to calculate the average quaternion. The algorithm is explained by F. Landis Markley at:
http://www.acsu.buffalo.edu/~johnc/ave_quat07.pdf
For this particular implementation, I would also like to reference Mandar Harshe:
http://www-sop.inria.fr/members/Mandar.Harshe/knee-joint/html/index.html
While being basic and straightforward, this algorithm is compared with rotqrmean from VoiceBox and found to produce quite similar results, yet it is more elegant, much simpler to implement and follow. (Though, there might be difference in signs)

Cite As

Tolga Birdal (2025). tolgabirdal/averaging_quaternions (https://github.com/tolgabirdal/averaging_quaternions), GitHub. Retrieved .

MATLAB Release Compatibility
Created with R2009b
Compatible with any release
Platform Compatibility
Windows macOS Linux

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Version Published Release Notes
1.1.0.0

Weighted average added.
Test function added.
1.0.0.0

To view or report issues in this GitHub add-on, visit the GitHub Repository.
To view or report issues in this GitHub add-on, visit the GitHub Repository.