Simulation and Visualization of Mechanical Systems in Immersive Virtual Environments
Thomas Canfield · University of North Texas Digital Library (University of North Texas) · 1998
A prototype for doing real-time simulation of mechanical systems in immersive virtual environments has been developed to run in the CAVE and on the ImmersaDesk at Argonne National Laboratory. This system has three principal software components: a visualization component for rendering the model and providing a user interface, communications software, and mechanics simulation software. The system can display the three-dimensional objects in the CAVE and project various scalar fields onto the exterior surface of the objects during real-time execution. Introduction Over the past few years a number of CAVE 3 applications have been developed to enable the use of immersive visualization in applied mechanics simulations. Example applications include multibody dynamics, stress analysis, crash simulation and fluid dynamics. Most of these simulations have been used to demonstrate a capability and to do experiments. In a few instances these demonstrations have evolved into useful tools, e.g., ...