Collision detection methodologies for rigid body assembly in a virtual environment

In this paper, a simulated three-dimensional virtual environment is created with a virtual 3D track ball for virtual object control. We propose a new technique called HV Partition to detect accurate collision in the assembly of two polyhedral solids in virtual simulation. This is a solid interference detection methodology achieved by automatically partitioning the object into smaller solid boxes. An important advantage of this methodology compared with other approaches is that it can deal with non-convex objects. This means that mechanical components, represented by non-convex polyhedra, traversing any degree of freedom, can be used in this virtual environment. Using this HV Partition method, the precise interference between two polyhedral solid objects can be found. The HV Partition methodology is applied following initial approximate collision detection using traditional bounding box and bounding sphere methods. The smaller the number of smaller boxes, the quicker is the performance of the collision algorithm. An optimal partition method is also given to reduce the number of smaller boxes in an object. © 1995 Virtual Press Ltd.