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‘Walkthru
Project’ renders real-time 3D models for engineering
Basic
computer science research could lead to better, safer structures
Computer
scientists at the University of North Carolina (UNC) are helping
architects and engineers to create extremely detailed virtual structures
that designers can “walk through,” letting them head off
potential problems before a spade of dirt is overturned or a bolt
is fastened.
The WalkThru Project, led by UNC computer science professors Fred
Brooks and Dinesh Manocha, is funded by the National Science Foundation
(NSF) Division of Advanced Computational Infrastructure and Research.
The UNC team develops new algorithms and software for advanced prototyping
that could yield safer yet more cost-efficient buildings and vessels.
‘‘The
overall goal is to create interactive computer graphics systems
that let a viewer experience complex 3D spatial models by simulating
walk-throughs of the actual facility,’’ said Brooks, who
started the project in the mid-1980s.
The computer scientists take very large CAD/CAM (computer assisted
design and manufacture) models and render them as fully navigable
3D environments, including a tanker with 82-million separate elements
and a 13-million-element electric power station. Until now, such
complex virtual structures yielded slow, jerky graphics that did
not permit real-time navigation and manipulation.
Cosmetically, the WalkThru tanker simulation looks coarser than
what movie-goers have come to expect since Titanic. But it has a
level of technical realism that more than equals anything Hollywood
has done. Its 3D space is completely navigable from stem to stern,
consisting of 82 million triangles.
Synthetic environments that succeed in providing a realistic experience
for their users can also be used for collaboration between far-flung
design teams. This helps limit travel time and costs, as an engineer
in the U.S. can talk by speaker phone with a colleague overseas,
while they both walk through the same 3D environment.
‘‘One
of the challenges,’’ Manocha said, ‘‘is to develop
a scalable system to achieve real-time walkthroughs of very large
CAD/CAM models with high-accuracy rendering of spatial arrangements.
We write efficient algorithms to accelerate rendering and improve
collision detection, as when the user ‘bumps’ into a stationary
structure.’’
CAD/CAM and architectural models may contain millions of small 3D
elements, called “primitives.” To display these models
at interactive rates, developers must write algorithms to reduce
the number of primitives that the graphics system is required to
render. The team is also developing algorithms to assign processor
priority according to each element’s visibility, which permits
users to see and interact with the model at a greater level of detail.
Although WalkThru Project models were developed on advanced graphical
workstations made by Silicon Graphics, Inc., they will also run
on high-end PCs. The walkthroughs can also be viewed in immersive
virtual reality caverns that let the user experience the simulations
on a life-size scale.
In 2000, Brooks received the Turing award the highest honour in
computer science from the Association for Computing Machinery. Manocha
was a 1995 recipient of the NSF CAREER award for promising young
faculty. Other team members include UNC computer science faculty
Anselmo Lastra (rendering acceleration algorithms) and Ming Lin
(collision detection and proximity simulation).
‘‘Over
the years, this project has depended on excellent graduate students
who have gone on to work at places such as Lucent Bell Labs, Johns
Hopkins University, the University of Virginia and other top institutions,’’
Brooks said. ‘‘Our faculty have paid close attention to
the educational aspect.’’
The team’s simulation and 3D model of a coal-fired power plant
are available for non-commercial public use. Collaborative partners
of the WalkThru Project include General Dynamics, Newport News Shipbuilding
and the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory. In addition to NSF, other
federal sponsors have included the National Institutes of Health,
the U.S. Army and Navy, the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency
and the U.S. Department of Energy.
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