The force density method: A brief introduction

The method of force density was developed in response to the need for computational modelling of structures for the Munich Olympic complex. The method relies on the assumption that the ratio of tension force to length of each cable can be constant, transforming a system of non-linear equations to a set of linear equations which can be solved directly. In this short note I will give an introduction, description and some results of using the FDM for use as a parameterization technique

Compact elliptical basis functions for surface reconstruction

In this technical report I present a method to reconstruct a surface representation from a a set of EBF's, and in addition present an efficient top--down method to build an EBF representation from a point cloud representation of a surface. I also discuss the advantages and disadvantages of this approach

Fast Simulation of Skin Sliding

Skin sliding is the phenomenon of the skin moving over underlying layers of fat, muscle and bone. Due to the complex interconnections between these separate layers and their differing elasticity properties, it is difficult to model and expensive to compute. We present a novel method to simulate this phenomenon at real--time by remeshing the surface based on a parameter space resampling. In order to evaluate the surface parametrization, we borrow a technique from structural engineering known as the force density method which solves for an energy minimizing form with a sparse linear system. Our method creates a realistic approximation of skin sliding in real--time, reducing texture distortions in the region of the deformation. In addition it is flexible, simple to use, and can be incorporated into any animation pipeline

ENHANCING RURAL PUBLIC TRANSPORT ACCESSIBILITY THROUGH IMPLEMENTING A SMART SCAN-ON M-TICKETING SOLUTION: : A UNITED KINGDOM CASE STUDY APPROACH WITHIN RURAL DEREGULATED ENVIRONMENTS

Scott Copsey, Sue Walsh, Liam Fassam, Richard Southern, ‘Enhancing Rural Public Transport Accessibility Through Implementing a Smart Scan-on M Ticketing Solution: A United Kingdom Case Study Approach Within Rural Deregulated Environments’, paper presented at the European Transport Conference, Barcelona, Spain, 5-7 October, 2016.The aim of this paper is to demonstrate how two UK Local Authorities (Hertfordshire and Northamptonshire), the two Universities of Hertfordshire and Northampton and public transport providers have worked in partnership to develop a smart scan-on m-ticketing solution, that integrates into a wider ‘smart city’ solution delivering social good through connected value propositions. Based on the initial success of a Hertfordshire pilot, a specific objective of this work is to establish smart integrated multi-operator/modal solutions. This pilot is subsequently being collaboratively expanded upon, through the UK Department for Transport funded ‘Network Northamptonshire Total Transport’ initiative, a transformative project to improve connectivity, integration and accessibility for rural transport networks. This forms part of the recently signed ‘Heart of England’ economic tri-county alliance agreement, which aims to work collaboratively across three local authority regions (Buckinghamshire, Oxfordshire and Northamptonshire), consolidating £3bn of spending. This provides a further future platform for innovative transport solutions being rolled out across wider geographical areas. The initial Hertfordshire demonstrator pilot project explored how a ‘smart’ m-ticketing platform could provide a sustainable financial business model for implementing ticketing solutions for small and medium bus operators within rural Shires, outside of large urban settings. This unique project was the first scan-on bus mobile ticket product used in the UK (outside of London). It offers a partnership model and governance structure for local authorities, commercial operators and other stakeholders with an interest in integrated sustainable transport to take forward, and leads to the possibility of new, socially innovative models for procuring and delivering transport solutions. Initial user reactions have been positive, generating large digital data sets, analysis of which indicates rapid user uptake in comparison to other schemes. This data enables detailed analysis such as precise user geo-spatial distribution, supporting targeted marketing and route-specific promotions to encourage further service uptake. A critical success factor of the project was to target a reduction of on-bus cash handling by five per cent within the first 12 months. This would aid in reducing bus loading times, improve reliability and operator efficiencies. After an initial 16 month operational use, uptake growth in excess of 7 per cent of total revenue has been achieved, on specific routes the transfer to m-ticket has exceeded 12 per cent, with targets of 10 per cent of total cash to mobile conversion predicted by the middle of 2017, likely to be realised. The effectiveness of marketing campaigns, technical development aspects and implementation issues will be reported. These projects have a wider context. Public transport services in rural areas in England are deregulated, and have at present no effective statutory backing or ring-fenced funding. As a result, with reductions in funding to local authorities, funding for non-commercial bus services is being sharply reduced and many authorities are proposing to cease all funding for local bus services (Campaign for Better Transport, 2016). These projects may offer alternative cost-effective ways of providing local transport services in non-metropolitan areas, and thus provide the potential for unique future research opportunities. These include understanding the uptake of smart multi-modal solutions in rural areas to improve accessibility and connectivity through enhanced services for new users and for those with restricted or reduced mobility networks, whilst also offering efficiencies for operators. This research has added importance, because the UK Government is proposing legislation on bus services in England, which would confer significant extra powers on local authorities to intervene in the bus market in various ways. These projects may act as pathfinders for the use of these powers in non-metropolitan areas. Structures supporting a partnership approach involving all those with an interest in public transport are a critical part of improving rural connectivity and accessibility. Through the experience of establishing quality partnership models in Hertfordshire, this paper will go on to detail the subsequent work now underway developing a Social Enterprise model involving local government, universities, operators, health and education services in Northamptonshire, which will form the basis of the transformation of rural integrated sustainable transport delivery.Non peer reviewedSubmitted Versio

A particle-based dissolution model using chemical collision energy

We propose a new energy-based method for real-time dissolution simulation. A unified particle representation is used for both fluid solvent and solid solute. We derive a novel dissolution model from the collision theory in chemical reactions: physical laws govern the local excitation of solid particles based on the relative motion of the fluid and solid. When the local excitation energy exceeds a user specified threshold (activation energy), the particle will be dislodged from the solid. Unlike previous methods, our model ensures that the dissolution result is independent of solute sampling resolution. We also establish a mathematical relationship between the activation energy, the inter-facial surface area, and the total dissolution time - allowing for accurate artistic control over the global dissolution rate while maintaining the physical plausibility of the simulation. We demonstrate applications of our method using a number of practical examples, including antacid pills dissolving in water and hydraulic erosion of non-homogeneous terrains. Our method is straightforward to incorporate with existing particle-based fluid simulations

OFF-FARM INCOME, TECHNOLOGY ADOPTION, AND FARM ECONOMIC PERFORMANCE

The economic well-being of most U.S. farm households depends on income from both onfarm and off-farm activities. Consequently, for many farm households, economic decisions (including technology adoption and other production decisions) are likely to be shaped by the allocation of managerial time among such activities. While time allocation decisions are usually not measured directly, we observe the outcomes of such decisions, such as onfarm and off-farm income. This report finds that a farm operator’s off-farm employment and off-farm income vary inversely with the size of the farm. Operators of smaller farm operations improve their economic performance by compensating for the scale disadvantages of their farm business with more off-farm involvement. Off-farm work reduces farm-level technical efficiency, but increases household-level technical efficiency. And adoption of agricultural innovations that save managerial time is associated with higher off-farm income.Off-farm income, farm households, economic performance, managerial time, scale economies, scope economies, technical efficiency, technology adoption, farm size, Agricultural Finance, Farm Management,

A comparison of LED panels for use in Virtual Production: Findings and recommendations

We evaluate four LED panels from three vendors for use in Virtual Production using experimental conditions. Tests were designed to assess Moire and scan-line artefacts, light reflectivity and grazing angle. We discuss LED manufacturing processes and the implications of these on visual artefacts, power consumption and colour fidelity, and conclude with results and recommendations for LED vendors, practitioners and procurement teams in Virtual Production

On the use of Particle-in-Cell methods in Visual Effects

This paper and presentation describe the most popular method for simulating large bodies of fluid (for example, ocean waves) used within Visual Effects today, and describes open problems and challenges which the industry currently faces

Automatic Cage Construction for Retargeted Muscle Fitting

The animation of realistic characters necessitates the construction of complicated anatomical structures such as muscles, which allow subtle shape variation of the character's outer surface to be displayed believably. Unfortunately despite numerous efforts, the modelling of muscle structures is still left for an animator who has to painstakingly build up piece by piece, making it a very tedious process. What is even more frustrating is the animator has to build the same muscle structure for every new character. We propose a muscle retargeting technique to help an animator to automatically construct a muscle structure by reusing an already built and tested model (the template model). Our method defines a spatial transfer between the template model and a new model based on the skin surface and the rigging structure. To ensure that the retargeted muscle is tightly packed inside a new character, we define a novel spatial optimization based on spherical parameterization. Our method requires no manual input, meaning that an animator does not require anatomical knowledge to create realistic accurate musculature models