Volume contact constraints at arbitrary resolution

Abstract

We introduce a new method for simulating frictional contact between volumetric objects using interpenetration volume constraints. When applied to complex geometries, our formulation results in dramatically simpler systems of equations than those of traditional mesh contact models. Contact between highly detailed meshes can be simplified to a single unilateral constraint equation, or accurately processed at arbitrary geometry-independent resolution with simultaneous sticking and sliding across contact patches. We exploit fast GPU methods for computing layered depth images, which provides us with the intersection volumes and gradients necessary to formulate the contact equations as linear complementarity problems. Straightforward and popular numerical methods, such as projected Gauss-Seidel, can be used to solve the system. We demonstrate our method in a number of scenarios and present results involving both rigid and deformable objects at interactive rates.