Doctor of Philosophy (PhD), Ohio University, 2008, Computer Science (Engineering and Technology)

This dissertation focuses on the fast rendering algorithms on real-time 3D modeling. To improve the computational efficiency, binary space partitioning (BSP) and octree are implemented on the haptic model. Their features are addressed in detail. Three methods of triangle assignment with the splitting plane are discussed. The solutions for optimizing collision detection (CD) are presented and compared. The complexities of these partition methods are discussed, and recommendation is made. Then the deformable haptic model is presented. In this research, for the haptic modeling, the deformation calculation is only related to the graphics process because the haptic rendering is invisible and non-deformable rendering saves much computation cost. To achieve the fast deformation computation in the interactive simulation, the functional shape matched deformation (FSMD) algorithm is proposed for the tangential and normal components of the surface deformation. The benefit of the octree model is taken for searching the deformed area. To simplify the boundary of the deformed region, an ellipse deformation map is created based on the experimental data. The Gaussian radial interpolation (GRI) is developed for building this map which is pre-computed. The FSMD algorithm is tested and considered feasible for the virtual haptic back (VHB) project. Moreover, some recommendations for the future work are suggested.

Committee: Robert L. Williams II PhD (Committee Chair) Subjects: Computer Science