Computation of Elastically Deformable Models

Sven Thomas, Leibniz Universität Hannover, Seminar
01/2009

In computer graphics and especially in virtual reality it is not only important to represent rigid objects, but also to simulate deformable materials.  Curves, surfaces, or solids should deform according to interaction with other objects and react in a natural way.  A wide variety of techniques have been developed for modeling and animation of deformable objects.  One possible approach is to model the underlying physics by solving differential equations that balance externally applied forces with the object’s inertial mass as well as the damping force and an elastic force resulting from deformation.  The computation of the required deformation energy is derived from differential geometry and can be simplified for real-time simulation.  In this work the elastically deformable models are distinguished from other techniques and the basic equations and computations are described.

Contact: Guido Böttcher