Exact collision detection for a virtual manufacturing simulator

Collision detection is a critical aspect of Virtual Reality (VR)-based simulation of manufacturing processes. Despite the significant progress that has been made in developing efficient, exact collision detection algorithms for convex objects, limited and slow progress has been reported in developing collision detection algorithms for general, nonconvex objects. To narrow this gap we introduce the concept of virtual objects which extends the applicability of exact collision detection algorithms to nonconvex objects. The outcome of our methodology is the fast creation of convex objects for a class of frequently encountered nonconvex manufacturing objects that can be used in any existing collision detection approach. The collision detection technique described in this paper is best suited for interactive simulation and animation applications where a high accuracy of object contact modeling is required. Examples include virtual assembly; mobile robot simulation; robotic painting; robotic welding; and coordinate measuring processes.