Interpenetration free simulation of thin shell rigid bodies.

We propose a new algorithm for rigid body simulation that guarantees each body is in an interpenetration free state, both increasing the accuracy and robustness of the simulation as well as alleviating the need for ad hoc methods to separate bodies for subsequent simulation and rendering. We cleanly separate collision and contact resolution such that objects move and collide in the first step, with resting contact handled in the second step. The first step of our algorithm guarantees that each time step produces geometry that does not intersect or overlap by using an approximation to the continuous collision detection (and response) problem and, thus, is amenable to thin shells and degenerately flat objects moving at high speeds.

Dynamic simulation of articulated rigid bodies with contact and collision.

We propose a novel approach for dynamically simulating articulated rigid bodies undergoing frequent and unpredictable contact and collision. In order to leverage existing algorithms for nonconvex bodies, multiple collisions, large contact groups, stacking, etc., we use maximal rather than generalized coordinates and take an impulse-based approach that allows us to treat articulation, contact, and collision in a unified manner.

Melting and burning solids into liquids and gases.

We propose a novel technique for melting and burning solid materials, including the simulation of the resulting liquid and gas. The solid is simulated with traditional mesh-based techniques (triangles or tetrahedra) which enable robust handling of both deformable and rigid objects, collision and self-collision, rolling, friction, stacking, etc. The subsequently created liquid or gas is simulated with modern grid-based techniques, including vorticity confinement and the particle level set method.