An impulse-based dynamic simulation system for VR applications

This paper describes a system for dynamic simulation of linked rigid bodies in real-time. The system was developed to simulate mechanical behaviour in VR applications. An extension for a 3D modelling tool was developed which provides the possibility to model a VR scene including the geometries and mechanical parameters of all rigid bodies and the properties of the joints between them easily. For the dynamic simulation an impulse-based method is used. The distinguishing feature of this method is that all kind of constraints are satisfied with the iterative computation of impulses. The advantage of this iterative technique is that it is fast and accurate results can be achieved. The dynamic simulation system uses efficient collision detection methods. For every collision that is detected a contact region between the objects is determined to provide an accurate collision response.