ELI5: Explain Like I'm 5

Charts on SO(3)

Imagine you have a toy top that you can spin around in any direction. This top can be at different angles, like it can be tilted to one side or leaning forward or backward. You can describe all the possible orientations of this top using three numbers: how much it is tilted to one side, how much it is leaning forward/backward, and how much it is spinning around.

Now imagine you have to draw a picture of all the possible orientations of this top. You will need to draw a chart that shows all the different combinations of tilt, lean, and spin. This chart will have three axes, one for each of the three numbers. The tilt will be the x-axis, the lean will be the y-axis, and the spin will be the z-axis.

This chart is called a charts on SO(3). The "SO(3)" part means that the chart represents all possible rotations of a three-dimensional object. The "S" stands for "special," which means that the rotations in this chart have a special property: they don't change the size or shape of the object being rotated.

Charts on SO(3) are used in many fields, like robotics and computer graphics, to describe the orientation of objects in three-dimensional space. By using this chart, you can easily tell how the object is tilted, leaning, and spinning, and use that information to manipulate it in different ways.