Method and system for interactive simulation of materials and models

• US 8,786,613 B2
• Filed: 03/11/2013
• Issued: 07/22/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 04/08/2006
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Alan Millman
• Original Assignee: Alan Millman
• Inventors: Millman, Alan
• Primary Examiner(s): Tung, Kee M
• Assistant Examiner(s): Liu, Zhengxi
• Application Number:
  US13/792,860
• Publication Number:
  US 20130187930A1
• Time in Patent Office: 498 Days
• Field of Search: 345/473
• US Class Current: 345/473
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2111/10 Numerical modelling
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2119/14 Force analysis or force optimisation, e.g. static or dynamic forces
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 30/20 Design optimisation, verification or simulation optimisation, verification or simulation of circuit designs G06F30/30
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 30/23 using finite element methods [FEM] or finite difference methods [FDM]
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 30/25 using particle-based methods
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 13/20 3D [Three Dimensional] animation
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 19/00 Manipulating 3D models or images for computer graphics

Abstract

A method and system for drawing, displaying, editing animating, simulating and interacting with one or more virtual polygonal, spline, volumetric models, three-dimensional visual models or robotic models. The method and system provide flexible simulation, the ability to combine rigid and flexible simulation on plural portions of a model, rendering of haptic forces and force-feedback to a user.

Claims

1. A method for simulating rigid, semi-rigid, and flexible components of materials and models comprising:

connecting to a network device with one or more processors, a display and a plurality of hardware components including a plurality of haptic devices, head trackers, stereoscopic displays and audio speakers, connecting to each other and to the network device;

defining on an application on the network device one or more individual components for each of one or more entities being simulated, wherein a three-dimensional (3D) entity includes at least four individual components combined into the 3D entity being simulated and wherein each of the one or more individual components include a plurality of individual component portions;

defining on the application on the network device for each of the one or more individual components, a force transmission parameter obtained from a plurality of force transmission parameter values, a selected entity'"'"'s rigid mass is greater than zero and less than its total mass, the plurality of force transmission parameter values including a first force transmission parameter value representing a fully flexible component, a second force transmission parameter value representing a fully rigid component and a plurality of other force transmission parameter values with values in-between the first force transmission parameter value and the second force transmission parameter value representing varying levels of semi-rigidity, wherein the selected entity'"'"'s rigid mass is calculated according to the equation;

2. The method of claim 1 wherein the connecting step includes:

physically and rigidly connecting and co-locating the plurality of hardware components with respect to each other and to the network device and the display on the network device at fixed and specific distances and orientations using a rigid harness; and

registering the plurality of hardware components with the application on the network device.

3. The method of claim 1 wherein the connection step includes:

connecting dynamically in real-time the plurality of hardware devices with the network device and the display on the network device with the application by dynamically tracking with one or more device trackers using six or more degrees of freedoms, specific distances, orientations and temporal locations of the plurality of hardware devices; and

providing automatic and dynamic co-location and registration and re-registration of the plurality of hardware devices in real-time during a simulation session by the application on the network device.

4. The method of claim 1 wherein the defining step includes drawing, editing, animating, and interacting with one or more non-physically-based polygonal models, volumetric models, spline models, non-uniform rational basis spline (NURBS) models or subdivision surface models in a physically-based, realistic manner with haptic feedback via the application on the network device.

5. The method of claim 4 wherein the polygonal models, volumetric models, or subdivision surface models include physically-based spine, hull, volume lattice, wire, thread, hair, atomic particle, molecule, fluid, viscous material, mechanical motions, including rotations and translations of objects, as created by electrical motors, hydraulic pumps, mechanical linkages, wheels, gears or robotic models.

6. The method of claim 1 wherein the receiving step includes:

receiving one or more selection inputs on the application on the network device with the composite simulation method from one or more other types of input devices that act as tools or manipulators for interacting with other physically-based models, and provide force-feedback, wherein the physically-based models include dynamic real-time behavior, including cutting into other objects, grasping other objects, curling up, unfolding and rotating, wherein the one or more other types of input devices include surgical instruments including scalpels and retractors, power tools, mechanical grabbers and robotic arms.

7. The method of claim 1 wherein the application on the network device includes a cloud application communicating with a cloud communications network comprising one or more of each a public, private, community and hybrid networks, the cloud application providing the composite simulation method as a plurality of cloud services including a cloud computing Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS), a cloud computing Platform, as a Service (PaaS) and offers Specific cloud composite methods services as a Service (SaaS) including a cloud software service.

8. The method of claim 7 wherein the IaaS, PaaS and SaaS include one or more being simulated and further include one or more networking devices, storage network devices, or server network devices each with one or more processors, the one or more networking devices, storage devices or server network devices including virtualization applications, operating systems, middleware services, run-time services, data services, application services, or any combination thereof, on the cloud communications network.

9. The method of claim 1 wherein the application is implemented in hardware on the network device, or implemented by using field-programmable gate arrays (FPGA), by using global processing units (GPUs), or by using parallelization techniques on multiple central processing units (CPUs).

11. The method of claim 1 wherein the network device communicates with the plurality of hardware components with Near Field Communications (NFC) or Machine-to-Machine (M2M) Communications protocols.

12. The method of claim 1 wherein the network device communicates with other network devices over a non-cloud communications network or a cloud communications network with “

Wireless Fidelity”

(Wi-Fi) or “

Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access”

(WiMAX) communications.

13. The method of claim 1 wherein the GUI includes 3D menus, sliders, or graphical buttons that graphically pop-up in or around a user interface for the plurality of hardware components.

14. The method of claim 1 further comprising:

combining the composite simulation method with a particle system simulation method creating a new composite method to simulate materials or combinations of fluids and materials.

15. The method of claim 1 further comprising:

splitting on the application on the network device a material or model to be simulated into a plurality of sub-components;

determining on the application on the network device a plurality of points of contact between the sub-components and a plurality of other sub-components for another material or another model being simulated; and

adding on the application on the network device, data for the composite simulation method only to selected sub-components of the material or model being simulated where interactions or motion of the material or model being simulated is required.

16. The method of claim 1 further comprising:

creating on the application on the network device a simulation hierarchy with a N-number of levels, where a plurality of masses make up a body in a first level, a plurality of bodies are each treated as another plurality of masses in a larger body in a second level, a plurality of larger bodies are treated as masses in a yet-larger body in a third level in a pattern repeating for the N-number of levels; and

adding on the application on the network device the simulation hierarchy to the composite simulation method to create a hierarchical composite method for simulating materials or methods.

17. The method of claim 16 wherein the hierarchical composite method includes a method to simulate a particle system including both particles and fluids or other viscous materials.

18. The method of claim 1, wherein

the network device comprises one or more processors and one or more non-transitory computer readable mediums,

the display is a 3D stereoscopic display oriented horizontally with a display area facing Up,

the plurality of haptic devices are suspended above and behind the 3D stereoscopic display to have an operating range of the plurality of haptic devices that substantially covers a first portion of the 3D stereoscopic display'"'"'s surface area,

the head-trackers are positioned to make their range include an area in front of, to either side of, and above the 3D stereoscopic display so that a 3D space a user'"'"'s head occupies during operation covers a second portion of the 3D stereoscopic display, and

the audio speakers comprise three or more speakers that are placed around or above the 3D stereoscopic display so that a third operational area enclosed by the three or more speakers forms a convex hull above and around the 3D stereoscopic display and a user to make audio sounds panned between the three or more speakers so that an audio sound appears to be coming precisely from a specific location in 3D space with respect to the user.

10. The method of Clam 1 further comprising:

creating a set of dynamically-moving three-dimensional (3D) reference frames, the 3D reference frames allowing embedding of non-physically-based polygonal models, volumetric models, spline models non-uniform rational basis spline (NURBS) models, or subdivision surface models, each location, point, or voxel in a 3D reference frame corresponds to a location on a physically-based spine, hull or volume lattice.

19. A non-transitory computer readable medium on one or more processors on one or more network devices having stored therein a plurality of instructions for executing a method for simulating rigid, semi-rigid, and flexible components of materials and models comprising the steps of:

connecting to a network device with one or more processors from the one or more network devices, a display and a plurality of hardware components including a plurality of haptic devices, head trackers, stereoscopic displays and audio speakers connecting to each other and to the network device;

defining on an application on the network device one or more individual components for each of one or more entities being simulated, wherein a three-dimensional (3D) entity includes at least four individual components combined into the 3D entity being simulated and wherein each of the one or more individual components include a plurality of individual component portions;

defining on the application on the network device for each of the one or more individual components, a force transmission parameter obtained from a plurality of force transmission parameter values, a selected entity'"'"'s rigid mass is greater than zero and less than its total mass, the plurality of force transmission parameter values including a first force transmission parameter value representing a fully flexible component, a second force transmission parameter value representing a fully rigid component and a plurality of other force transmission parameter values with values in-between the first force transmission parameter value and the second force transmission parameter value representing varying levels of semi-rigidity, wherein the selected entity'"'"'s rigid mass is calculated according to the equation;

20. A system for simulating rigid, semi-rigid, and flexible components of materials and models comprising in combination:

one or more network devices each with one or more processors and one or more non-transitory computer readable mediums;

one or more applications on the one or more non-transitory computer readable mediums on the one or more network devices configured for;

for connecting to a network device with one or more processors from the one or more network devices and a display and a plurality of hardware components including a plurality of haptic devices, head trackers, stereoscopic displays and audio speakers to each other and to the network device;

for defining on an application the network device one or more individual components for each of one or more entities being simulated, wherein a three-dimensional (3D) entity includes at least four individual components combined into the 3D entity being simulated and wherein each of the one or more individual components include a plurality of individual component portions;

for defining on the application on the network device for each of the one or more individual components, a force transmission parameter obtained from a plurality of force transmission parameter values, a selected entity'"'"'s rigid mass is greater than zero and less than its total mass, the plurality of force transmission parameter values including a first force transmission parameter value representing a fully flexible component, a second force transmission parameter value representing a fully rigid component and a plurality of other force transmission parameter values with values in-between the first force transmission parameter value and the second force transmission parameter value representing varying levels of semi-rigidity, wherein the selected entity'"'"'s rigid mass is calculated according to the equation;