Computer Graphics Laboratory ETH Zurich

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CGL » Research » Physics Simulation

Physics Simulation

Introduction

Computer-animated objects are ubiquitous in entertainment and training applications of computer graphics (e.g. videogames, feature films, surgical simulators, etc.). As opposed to tedious and rather inflexible key-frame animation, physics-based simulation offers a concise, but rich and flexible way of defining the behavior of animated objects, by allowing the laws of physics to determine or guide their motion. In contrast to the mathematical modeling of physical objects in computational physics, our primary concern are stability and efficiency of the algorithms as well as controllability of the objects and simulations.

Topics

Fluid Simulation

At the CGL, we are working on techniques for fast, stable and art-directable creation of highly detailed simulations of water and smoke. Using mesh- and particle-based methods, we have developed novel techniques for turbulence modeling, multi-resolution simulation, data-driven fluids, and tracking of mesh surfaces.


Elastic Materials

We are working on methods for efficient and robust simulation and control of elastic objects. This includes our example-based method for art-directability of deformations, the subspace clothing method for reproducing diverse and detailed folding patterns, as well as our discontinuous Galerkin FEM method that supports arbitrary polyhedral convex and non-convex elements that allows for efficient topological changes without the need for remeshing.


Publications





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