Abstract: Within the affine connection framework of Lagrangian control systems, based on the results of Sussmann on controllability of general affine control systems defined on a finite-dimensional manifold, a computable sufficient condition of configuration controllability for the simple mechanical control systems was extended to the case of systems with strictly dissipative energy terms of linear isotropic nature, and a sufficient condition of equilibrium controllability for the systems was also given, where Lagrangian is kinetic energy minus potential energy. Lie bracketting of vector fields in controllable Lie algebra, and the symmetric product associated with Levi-Civita connection show virtues in the discussion. Liouville vector field simplified the computation of controllable Lie algebra for the systems, although the terms of potential energy complicated the study of configuration controllability.

Key words: mechanics, controllability, affine connection, symmetric product, isotropic dissipation