HP Labs Technical Reports

A General Formulation of Rigid Body Assemblies for Computer Graphics Modeling

Kalra, Devendra

HPL-95-70

Keyword(s):

Abstract: In this paper, we present a general approach for the physically-based modeling of rigid-body assemblies. An assembly is defined as a collection of rigid bodies connected to each other through contacts or joints. We present a characterization of contacts between rigid bodies and a methodology to convert the contact into linear constraints on motion parameters such as acceleration of points and vectors on the bodies. We enforce these constraints using an inverse-dynamics approach by computing constraint forces on the rigid bodies. We present a formulation of linear equations that compute the required constraint forces. The contact characterizations can be used as a general primitive in the design of a rigid-body simulator. We present some examples from such a simulator.

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