5,438 research outputs found
Parallel cloth simulation using OpenMp and CUDA
The widespread availability of parallel computing architectures has lead to research regarding algorithms and techniques that best exploit available parallelism. In addition to the CPU parallelism available; the GPU has emerged as a parallel computational device. The goal of this study was to explore the combined use of CPU and GPU parallelism by developing a hybrid parallel CPU/GPU cloth simulation application. In order to evaluate the benefits of the hybrid approach, the application was first developed in sequential CPU form, followed by a parallel CPU form. The application uses Backward Euler implicit time integration to solve the differential equations of motion associated with the physical system. The Conjugate Gradient (CG) algorithm is used to determine the solution vector for the system of equations formed by the Backward Euler approach. The matrix/vector, vector/vector, and vector/scalar operations required by CG are handled by calls to BLAS level 1 and level 2 functions. In the sequential CPU and parallel CPU versions, the Intel Math Kernel Library implementation of BLAS is used. In the hybrid parallel CPU/GPU version, the Nvidia CUDA based BLAS implementation (CUBLAS) is used. In the parallel CPU and hybrid implementations, OpenMP directives are used to parallelize the force application loop that traverses the list of forces acting on the system. Runtimes were collected for each version of the application while simulating cloth meshes with particle resolutions of 20x20, 40x40, and 60x60. The performance of each version was compared at each mesh resolution. The level of performance degradation experienced when transitioning to the larger mesh sizes was also determined. The hybrid parallel CPU/GPU implementation yielded the highest frame rate for the 40x40 and 60x60 meshes. The parallel CPU implementation yielded the highest frame rate for the 20x20 mesh. The performance of the hybrid parallel CPU/GPU implementation degraded the least as it transitioned to the two larger mesh sizes. The results of this study will potentially lead to further research regarding the use of GPUs to perform the matrix/vector operations associated with the CG algorithm under more complex cloth simulation scenarios
Scalable partitioning for parallel position based dynamics
We introduce a practical partitioning technique designed for parallelizing Position Based Dynamics, and exploiting
the ubiquitous multi-core processors present in current commodity GPUs. The input is a set of particles whose
dynamics is influenced by spatial constraints. In the initialization phase, we build a graph in which each node
corresponds to a constraint and two constraints are connected by an edge if they influence at least one common
particle. We introduce a novel greedy algorithm for inserting additional constraints (phantoms) in the graph
such that the resulting topology is q-colourable, where ˆ qˆ ≥ 2 is an arbitrary number. We color the graph, and
the constraints with the same color are assigned to the same partition. Then, the set of constraints belonging to
each partition is solved in parallel during the animation phase. We demonstrate this by using our partitioning
technique; the performance hit caused by the GPU kernel calls is significantly decreased, leaving unaffected the
visual quality, robustness and speed of serial position based dynamics
The application of three-dimensional mass-spring structures in the real-time simulation of sheet materials for computer generated imagery
Despite the resources devoted to computer graphics technology over the last 40 years,
there is still a need to increase the realism with which flexible materials are simulated.
However, to date reported methods are restricted in their application by their use of
two-dimensional structures and implicit integration methods that lend themselves to
modelling cloth-like sheets but not stiffer, thicker materials in which bending moments
play a significant role.
This thesis presents a real-time, computationally efficient environment for simulations
of sheet materials. The approach described differs from other techniques principally
through its novel use of multilayer sheet structures. In addition to more accurately
modelling bending moment effects, it also allows the effects of increased temperature
within the environment to be simulated. Limitations of this approach include the
increased difficulties of calibrating a realistic and stable simulation compared to
implicit based methods.
A series of experiments are conducted to establish the effectiveness of the technique,
evaluating the suitability of different integration methods, sheet structures, and
simulation parameters, before conducting a Human Computer Interaction (HCI) based
evaluation to establish the effectiveness with which the technique can produce credible
simulations. These results are also compared against a system that utilises an
established method for sheet simulation and a hybrid solution that combines the use of
3D (i.e. multilayer) lattice structures with the recognised sheet simulation approach.
The results suggest that the use of a three-dimensional structure does provide a level of
enhanced realism when simulating stiff laminar materials although the best overall
results were achieved through the use of the hybrid model
- …