CUDA-enabled Particle-Based 3D Fluid Haptic Simulation

This paper describes a method to accomplish haptic three dimensional (3D) computer simulations of fluids by approximating natural hydrodynamic behavior using particles that, as a whole, simulate different kinds of liquid media depending on their parameters. The importance of this research lies in that it enables haptic simulations of fluids by using a particles approach. The benefit of a particles approach is that it could be extended for other kind of media such as solid and gas for a seamless platform for haptic interaction. The physics are emulated by means of a basic particle model that interacts with the other particles in the system implementing a simplified physics model that, while keeping low the processing needed, emulates real-world behavior like gravity, inertia, mass, and acceleration. Furthermore, several parameters are maintained configurable to vary the likeness of the liquid to different real world fluids. Previous work on this subject has obtained particle fluid simulations, but hasn´t implemented haptic feedback for liquids, other works have implemented haptic simulation of gases, albeit by an Eulerian approach. Haptic liquid simulations were found to be possible, behaving approximately like a fluid medium, but the realism was limited by the number of particles because of the amount of processing needed. This research´s unique contribution centers in the simplified particle model by which haptic applications can viably incorporate fluids by means of particles, which could be part of a unified framework of physics simulation.