What Is a Rotation Matrix?

A rotation matrix is a matrix used to rotate an axis about a given point. The center of a Cartesian coordinate frame is typically used as that point of rotation. Rotation matrices are used for computations in aerospace, image processing, and other technical computing applications.

The revolution of a rotation matrix is often described with Euler angles, but can also be described in vector form using quaternions.  Although there are many methods to perform a rotation, the most prevalent are based on directional cosine matrices and quaternions.

Common tasks include::

• Performing 2D and 3D rotations using a single function call
• Converting between quaternion vectors and rotation matrices
• Actively using matrix operations for rotation in simulation

For details on implementing a rotation matix, see MATLAB^® and Simulink^®.