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A virtual environment for the modelling, simulation and manufacturing of orthopaedic devices
This thesis was submitted for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy and awarded by Brunel University.The objective of this work is to investigate whether the game physics based
modelling is accurate enough to be used in modelling the motion of the human body,
in particular musculoskeletal motion. Hitherto, the implementation of game physics
in the medical field focused only on anatomical representation for education and
training purposes. Introducing gaming platforms and physics engines into
orthopaedics applications will help to overcome several difficulties encountered in
the modelling of articular joints. Implementing a physics engine (PhysX), which is mainly designed for video games, handles intensive computations in optimized ways
at an interactive speed. In this study, the capabilities of the physics engine (PhysX)
and gaming platform for modelling and simulating articular joints are evaluated.
First, a preliminary validation is carried out for mechanical systems with analytical
solutions, before constructing the musculoskeletal model to evaluate the consistency of gaming platforms. The developed musculoskeletal model deals with the human joint as an unconstrained system with 6 DOF which is not available with other joint modeller. The model articulation is driven by contact surfaces and the stiffness of surrounding tissues. A number of contributions, such as contact modelling and
muscle wrapping, have been made in this research to overcome some existing
challenges in joint modelling. Using muscle segmentation, the proposed technique
effectively handles the problem of muscle wrapping, a major concern for many; thus
the shortest path and line of action are no longer problematic. Collision behaviour
has also shown a stable response for colliding as well as resting objects, provided that it is based on the principles of surface properties and the conservation of linear and angular momentums. The precision of collision detection and response are within an acceptable tolerance controllable by varying the mesh density. An image based analysis system is developed in this thesis, mainly in order to validate the
proposed physics based modelling solution. This minimally invasive method is based
on the analysis of marker positions located at bony positions with minimal skin
movement. The image based system overcomes several challenges associated with
the currently existing methods, such as inaccuracy, complication, impracticability
and cost. The analysis part of this research has considered the elbow joint as a case
study to investigate and validate the proposed physics based model. Beside the
interactive 3D simulation, the obtained results are validated by comparing them with
the image based system developed within the current research to investigate joint
kinematics and laxity and also with published material, MJM and results from
experiments performed at the Brunel Orthopaedic Research and Learning Centre.
The proposed modelling shows the advantageous speed, reliability and flexibility of the proposed model. It is shown that the gaming platform and physics engine provide a viable solution to human musculoskeletal modelling. Finally, this thesis considers an extended implementation of the proposed platform for testing and assessing the design of custom-made implants, to enhance joint performance. The developed simulation software is expected to give indicative results as well as testing different types of prosthetic implant. Design parameterization and sensitivity analysis for geometrical features are discussed. Thus, an integrated environment is proposed to link the real-time simulation software with a manufacturing environment so as to assist the production of patient specific implants by rapid manufacturing
Object and Relation Centric Representations for Push Effect Prediction
Pushing is an essential non-prehensile manipulation skill used for tasks
ranging from pre-grasp manipulation to scene rearrangement, reasoning about
object relations in the scene, and thus pushing actions have been widely
studied in robotics. The effective use of pushing actions often requires an
understanding of the dynamics of the manipulated objects and adaptation to the
discrepancies between prediction and reality. For this reason, effect
prediction and parameter estimation with pushing actions have been heavily
investigated in the literature. However, current approaches are limited because
they either model systems with a fixed number of objects or use image-based
representations whose outputs are not very interpretable and quickly accumulate
errors. In this paper, we propose a graph neural network based framework for
effect prediction and parameter estimation of pushing actions by modeling
object relations based on contacts or articulations. Our framework is validated
both in real and simulated environments containing different shaped multi-part
objects connected via different types of joints and objects with different
masses. Our approach enables the robot to predict and adapt the effect of a
pushing action as it observes the scene. Further, we demonstrate 6D effect
prediction in the lever-up action in the context of robot-based hard-disk
disassembly.Comment: Project Page: https://fzaero.github.io/push_learning
Real Time Animation of Virtual Humans: A Trade-off Between Naturalness and Control
Virtual humans are employed in many interactive applications using 3D virtual environments, including (serious) games. The motion of such virtual humans should look realistic (or ‘natural’) and allow interaction with the surroundings and other (virtual) humans. Current animation techniques differ in the trade-off they offer between motion naturalness and the control that can be exerted over the motion. We show mechanisms to parametrize, combine (on different body parts) and concatenate motions generated by different animation techniques. We discuss several aspects of motion naturalness and show how it can be evaluated. We conclude by showing the promise of combinations of different animation paradigms to enhance both naturalness and control
VizLab: The Design and Implementation of An Immersive Virtual Environment System Using Game Engine Technology and Open Source Software
Virtual Reality (VR) is a term used to describe computer-simulated environments that can immerse users in a real or unreal world. Immersive systems are an essential component when experiencing virtual environments. Developing VR applications is time-consuming, and developers use many resources in creating VR applications. The separate components require integration, and the challenges in using public domain open source software present complex software development. The VizLab Virtual Reality System was created to meet these challenges and provide an integrated suite of tools for VR system development. VizLab supports the development of VR applications by using game engine and CAVE system technology. The system consists of software modules that provide rendering, texturing, collision, physics, window/viewport management, cluster synchronization, input management, multi-processing, stereoscopic 3D, and networking. VizLab combines the main functional aspects of a game engine and CAVE system for an improved approach to developing VR applications, virtual environments, and immersive environments
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