Dual-Model Approach for Engineering Collision Detection in the CAVE Environment

Virtual simulation is very important for engineering application. Traditional simulation based on DELMIA platform has some shortcomings, such as limited capability of detailed observation, low precision and time-consuming. VR system simulation can effectively solve these problems. However, in engineering applications, the large model simulation in VR system cannot meet the real-time requirements, and collision detection is often slow or even collapsed. To solve this problem, this paper proposes a dual-model approach for engineering collision detection in the CAVE environment: a display model and a collision detection model are established respectively. The display model contains a large model, and the collision detection model contains a manikin and the hidden large model. For visual rendering, the display model uses caching strategy, and the collision detection model uses real-time strategy. The two sets of models are combined and presented in CAVE. Because the dual-model approach separates the visual rendering of the large model from the collision detection calculation, the large model in the collision detection model can be lightweight, or the area of interest can be selected for the collision detection calculation. Experiments show that the dual-model approach can effectively guarantee the real-time performance of visual display and collision detection, and provides a complete solution for engineering collision detection using the CAVE system, which can be applied in the fields of industrial virtual maintenance, assembly, and pre-design evaluation.