The paper considers the procedure for determining the brachistochronic motion
of the Chaplygin sleigh in a vertical plane, where the blade is such that it
prevents the motion of the contact point in one direction only. The position
of the sleigh mass center and orientation at the final positions is
specified, as well as the initial value of mechanical energy. The simplest
formulation of a corresponding optimal control problem is given and it is
solved by applying Pontryagin?s maximum principle. For some cases,
analytical solutions of differential equations of the two-point boundary
value problem (TPBVP) of the maximum principle were found. Numerical
integration was carried out for other cases using the shooting method, where
the assessment of missing terminal conditions was given and it was shown
that the solution obtained represents the global minimum time for the
brachistochronic motion. The method of the brachistochronic motion by means
of a single holonomic and a single unilateral nonholonomic mechanical
constraint is presented.