Neat MPL script for a quick & dirty double pendulum calculation

double_pend.py

# adapted from https://matplotlib.org/stable/gallery/animation/double_pendulum.html#sphx-glr-gallery-animation-double-pendulum-py
from numpy import sin, cos
import numpy as np
import matplotlib.pyplot as plt
import matplotlib.animation as animation
from collections import deque

G = 9.8  # acceleration due to gravity, in m/s^2
L1 = 1.0  # length of pendulum 1 in m
L2 = 1.0  # length of pendulum 2 in m
L = L1 + L2  # maximal length of the combined pendulum
M1 = 1.0  # mass of pendulum 1 in kg
M2 = 1.0  # mass of pendulum 2 in kg
t_stop = 250  # how many seconds to simulate
history_len = 1000  # how many trajectory points to display


def derivs(t, state):
    dydx = np.zeros_like(state)

    dydx[0] = state[1]

    delta = state[2] - state[0]
    den1 = (M1+M2) * L1 - M2 * L1 * cos(delta) * cos(delta)
    dydx[1] = ((M2 * L1 * state[1] * state[1] * sin(delta) * cos(delta)
                + M2 * G * sin(state[2]) * cos(delta)
                + M2 * L2 * state[3] * state[3] * sin(delta)
                - (M1+M2) * G * sin(state[0]))
               / den1)

    dydx[2] = state[3]

    den2 = (L2/L1) * den1
    dydx[3] = ((- M2 * L2 * state[3] * state[3] * sin(delta) * cos(delta)
                + (M1+M2) * G * sin(state[0]) * cos(delta)
                - (M1+M2) * L1 * state[1] * state[1] * sin(delta)
                - (M1+M2) * G * sin(state[2]))
               / den2)

    return dydx

# create a time array from 0..t_stop sampled at 0.02 second steps
dt = 0.01
t = np.arange(0, t_stop, dt)

# th1 and th2 are the initial angles (degrees)
# w10 and w20 are the initial angular velocities (degrees per second)
th1 = 120.0
w1 = 0.0
th2 = -10.0
w2 = 0.0

# initial state
state = np.radians([th1, w1, th2, w2])

# integrate the ODE using Euler's method
y = np.empty((len(t), 4))
y[0] = state
for i in range(1, len(t)):
    y[i] = y[i - 1] + derivs(t[i - 1], y[i - 1]) * dt

# A more accurate estimate could be obtained e.g. using scipy:
#
#   y = scipy.integrate.solve_ivp(derivs, t[[0, -1]], state, t_eval=t).y.T

x1 = L1*sin(y[:, 0])
y1 = -L1*cos(y[:, 0])

x2 = L2*sin(y[:, 2]) + x1
y2 = -L2*cos(y[:, 2]) + y1

fig = plt.figure(figsize=(7, 7))
ax = fig.add_subplot(autoscale_on=False, xlim=(-L, L), ylim=(-L, L))
ax.set_aspect('equal')
ax.grid()

line, = ax.plot([], [], 'o-', lw=2)
trace, = ax.plot([], [], '.-', lw=1, ms=2)
time_template = 'time = %.1fs'
time_text = ax.text(0.05, 0.9, '', transform=ax.transAxes)
history_x, history_y = deque(maxlen=history_len), deque(maxlen=history_len)


def animate(i):
    thisx = [0, x1[i], x2[i]]
    thisy = [0, y1[i], y2[i]]

    if i == 0:
        history_x.clear()
        history_y.clear()

    history_x.appendleft(thisx[2])
    history_y.appendleft(thisy[2])

    line.set_data(thisx, thisy)
    trace.set_data(history_x, history_y)
    time_text.set_text(time_template % (i*dt))
    return line, trace, time_text


ani = animation.FuncAnimation(
    fig, animate, len(y), interval=dt*1000, blit=True)
plt.show()