Interactive control of linked rigid body simulations

Numerical simulation of linked rigid-body motion generates realistic motion automatically. Simulation alone, however, prevents intuitive direction. In the worst case, an artist repeatedly tweaks a variety of simulation parameters until she achieves the desired effect. Because of the complexity of the dynamics of linked rigid bodies, the tweaking becomes tedious, even for the simplest animation goals. This thesis describes an interactive technique for direct control of linked rigid-body simulation with a click-and-drag interface. It uses numerical simulation to preserve the physical realism of the motion. Differential control, an interactive form of gradient descent, provides the basis of the interface. This thesis extends differential control to edit the motion of linked rigid bodies connected with passive joints in an open-loop topology. The linked object can collide for an instantaneous or sustained time period at a single point of contact.

Department dc:contributor.department

Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Dept. of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science.

Grantor dc:publisher

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Year dc:date.issued

2003

Author dc:creator

• Lee, Jonathan Jong-Ho, 1980-

Advisor dc:contributor.advisor

• Jovan Popović.

• Electrical Engineering and Computer Science.

Statement dc:rights

• M.I.T. theses are protected by copyright. They may be viewed from this source for any purpose, but reproduction or distribution in any format is prohibited without written permission. See provided URL for inquiries about permission.

Licence dc:rights.uri

• http://dspace.mit.edu/handle/1721.1/7582

Language dc:language.iso

en_US

Handle dc:identifier.uri

http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/28461

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:dspace.mit.edu:1721.1/28461