Tangible interfaces for interactive ow simulation

Martin Becker and Uwe Wssner o

HLRS, University of Stuttgart, Allmandring 30, 70569 Stuttgart becker@hlrs.de, woessner@hlrs.de

In this Paper we will present a set of modules and plugins developed for the COVISE visualization system which allow setting up interactive CFD simulations. Real objects can be moved in a model and thus provide an easy to use interface to modify the geometry of the simulation.

1 Introduction
To perform complex simulations like CFD, it is typically necessary to include laborious and time-consuming pre- and postprocessing steps. Concerning preprocessing, this begins with grid generation and the denition of boundary conditions such as inlet, wall, symmetry or pressure boundary conditions. Afterwards, the actual simulation is executed. In the next step, the results of the simulation are checked and nally evaluated. In order to obtain successful and meaningful simulation results, a high grade of expertise is necessary, containing the knowledge of dierent software packages as well as the interfaces between them. In our approach we try to simplify and automate the complete process chain from grid generation to visualization by steering everything intuitively from only one consistent environment. Thereby, the simulation is running online, that means, that it is possible to engage in a running simulation. The user can simply change boundary conditions, but also has the chance of changing the geometry and generate a new computational grid. This new geometry is not specied using traditional input devices like mouse or keyboard, the procedure proposed in this paper is much more vivid and intuitive: A model of the simulated object serves as input device. The user can physically touch parts of the model and move them. Once pleased with the new setup, he can start a simulation by pressing a button. Within seconds, rst simulation results are obtained. In an iterative process, many

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congurations can be simulated in a very short timeframe and an optimized setup can easily be found. This is made possible by a single videocamera observing a model equipped with markers. The software analyzes the videostream of the camera and locates markers on objects to track the position and orientation of those objects.

2 Simulation
2.1 Covise COVISE is a modular visualization system developed at the HLRS. The software uses a data-ow execution model, i.e. the data objects in COVISE ow through a network of modules. This method provides a simple and intuitive way to produce sophisticated graphical applications without any real programming work. The dierent COVISE modules have input and output ports. Matching ports can be connected by mouse click. These connections represent the data ow between the modules, which all run as a separate process and thus can be distributed among multiple computers. The module network is a simple graphical representation of the process executed on the data. At the end of the process chain there is usually a render module that displays the image either on a monitor or in an immersive environment. It is possible to couple COVISE environments for collaborative working. COVISE can easily be extended for new functionality by adding modules, plugins and new datatypes. COVISE can be used not only for o-line postprocessing and visualization can be used as a general distributed and collaborative integration platform. This allows for example to generate a simulation steering system which makes it possible to engage into running simulations, change boundary conditions and geometry. 2.2 Grid Generation As we want to use FENFLOSS [1] as solver, we need to generate an unstructured grid consisting of hexahedral elements. In a rst step, the extent of the grid has to be determined. In a cuboid area, a simple, aequidistant uniform grid is generated. So far, it is possible to generate a grid around several hexahedron objects. The grid generation algorithm uses a subtractive approach, that means that we eliminate nodes and elements from the surrounding uniform grid. These are the nodes and cells lying inside the cubic objects and thus are not needed for the simulation. As we want the grid to be attached to the objects surface, we need to shift nodes adjacent to these surface subsequently. As we do not capture the objects directly but rather track their position and orientation by using markers attached to them, the geometry of the

Tangible interfaces for interactive ow simulation

objects has to be dened beforehand. Objects can so far be dened by a combination of cuboid subobjects within the grid generation module. The focus of our approach is on showing the feasability of using tangible interfaces as an intuitive input device for simulations. Since obtaining accurate results is less relevant at the moment, we use relatively simple and rudimentary grid generation methods without any boundary layers and local renements. In g. 1 the wall polygons of a typical grid are shown.

Fig. 1. wall polygons of grid with boundary lines

2.3 Domain Decomposition The computational grid is divided up into several parts for parallel processing. We use METIS [4] (Unstructured Graph Partitioning and Sparse Matrix Ordering System) as a library for the paritioning of the mesh. METIS provides a fast and stable solution for domain decomposition. Besides, it is simple and practicabel to use. 2.4 Solver The software FENFLOSS is developed at the IHS, which is the Institute of Fluid Mechanics and Hydraulic Machinery at University of Stuttgart. It can be used for the simulation of incompressible ows and uses Reynolds-averaged Navier-Stokes-equations on unstructured grids. FENFLOSS can be applied to laminar and turbulent ows. The turbulence models used are turbulent mixing length models as well as various k- models, containing nonlinear k- models and algebraic Reynolds stress models. The solver works for 2D or 3D geometries, which can be xed or rotating and either steady state or unsteady problems. FENFLOSS can also handle moving grids (rotor-stator-interactions). FENFLOSS contains methods to calculate free surfaces ows. It can be used on massively parallel computer platforms and is optimized for vector

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processors e.g. NEC SX-8. The program employs a segregated solution algorithm using a pressure correction. The parallelization takes place in the solver (BICGstab2 including ILU pre-conditioning). Coupling of xed and moving grids is accomplished by using integrated dynamic boundary conditions.

3 Visualization
The simulation process chain consists of three COVISE modules. To be able to integrate all the aforementioned processing steps into COVISE, three Modules have been developed: SC2004Booth, the grid and boundary condition generator, DomainDecomposition to decompose the grid into multiple domains for parallel simulation, and Fenoss, the simulation coupling module. The entire COVISE dataow network is shown in Fig. 2. The simulation itself is a separate process that is coupled with the Fenoss COVISE module using a socket connection. It sends new data to COVISE after each global iteration. All the other modules in Fig. 2 are used for data analysis and visualization, e.g. Tracer and CuttingSurface modules.

Fig. 2. Process chain in COVISE

New data objects have been dened to hand over cell type information and boundary conditions between the modules. Finally, the virtual environment system OpenCOVER has been extended by two plugins, the Fenoss plugin which allows modication of solver parameters and boundary conditions and

Tangible interfaces for interactive ow simulation

the TangiblePosition plugin, which acts as an interface between tangible interface and grid generation module. Fig. 3 illustrates the used modules, plugins and dataow in COVISE.

Fig. 3. Used modules, plugins and dataow in COVISE environment

3.1 Tangible Interface Virtual reality addresses several important challenges on how the system is controlled. It is necessary to nd solutions for interactions with the system that do not require any special expert knowledge but are easy and eective in usage. Collaborative working should be possible as well as the possibility to control multiple parameters simultaneously. Results of the simulation are available in a short time period. There are several appoaches to full these requirements, one of them is the use of so called tangible interfaces, which enable the user to control simulations and visualizations through the manipulation of physical objects. Tangible interfaces can be used as controls for digital parameters, data sets, computing resources, and other digital content. There are many advantages of this approach. First of all, the parameters that can be changed using the tangible objects are represented in a very clear way. The interaction is simple due to the fact that it is so close to reality. In addition to that, tangible interfaces can be used on desktop applications as well as in immersive environments. Users can explore the solution collaboratively by sharing multiple screens or immersive environments distributed in a room, building or anywhere around

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the globe. Results of the simulation are available in real-time. The tangible interface used in our application example is illustrated in Fig. 5. A high resolution IEEE1394 Camera is positioned above a physical model of the simulation domain. Each movable object in that model is equipped with a black and white ducial marker which identies the object. The camera picture is captured and analyzed by a modied version of ARToolKit [1]. ARToolkit analyzes the picture at around 10 frames per second on a Pentium M 1.6. It returns the position and orientation in six degrees of freedom of all markers which are completely visible. A VRML Model of the objects which are simulated serves as a visual reference in the virtual environment and it denes the tangible interface. A new VRML node, ARSensor, acts as interface between ARToolKit and the VRML Model. It takes the position and orientation of one of the markers from ARToolKit and transforms it into the VRML coordinate system. This transformation can then be routed to the transform node of the tracked object which thus follows the movement of the marker and the physical object respectively (Fig. 4).

Fig. 4. Videostream from camera in combination with tracked objects in the OpenCOVER VR renderer

By using tangible interfaces, a much more natural mode of operation is possible than with a traditional user interface where it is usually necessary to type in coordinates to move objects. The natural perception of the model in comparison to a simple monitor image is another important advantage.

4 Example and possible applications

In our example we show a CFD simulation of the airow around the HLRS booth at SC2004 (Fig. 5). Before being able to start the simulation process

Tangible interfaces for interactive ow simulation

chain, it is necessary to build a physical model of the simulated objects. On the one hand, its objects serve as placeholders for the real objects, on the other hand they are used as steering objects for the position of the objects. The Model is observed by a high resolution IEEE1394 grey-scale camera positioned about 50 cm above the model. By moving parts of the model, the virtual counterpart represented by this object moves as well. This setup allows the user to easily rearrange all objects and thus try out various congurations.

Fig. 5. HLRS booth at SC2004 in reality and as a model serving as tangible interface

By pressing a button, the simulation starts and delivers its rst results after 10 to 15 seconds. Fig. 6 shows typical simulation results with streamlines and cutting surfaces coloured with the value of pressure.

Fig. 6. CFD simulation results

This is just one example for using tangible interfaces in conjunction with online simulations. Some other possible application scenarios are the layout of cleanrooms, where a laminar airow is required, or the allocation of su-

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percomputer racks in a computing room where it is important to design and dimension the airconditioning. You could also use tangible interfaces with a coupled airow simulation in the design process of new buildings or town districts.

5 Conclusion
We have designed and developed an interface for interactive geometry modication of an online simulation. The interface is decoupled from the actual simulation, the movement of objects does not inuence the simulation before you press a button to restart it. One of the most important goals of this system is to make simulation tools more accessible for people who have little or no expert knowledge in simulation software, but are interested in nding optimized solutions for their problems. The goal is to solve ow problems without having profound knowledge in special software and uid mechanics.

References
1. M. Billinghurst and H. Kato. Collaborative mixed reality. In Proceedings of International Symposium on Mixed Reality (ISMR 99), pages 261284, 1999. 2. A. Breckenridge, L. Pierson, S. Sanielevici, J. Welling, R. Keller, U. Wssner, and o J. Schulze. Distributed, on-demand, data-intensive and collaborative simulation analysis. Future Gener. Comput. Syst., 19(6):849859, 2003. 3. R. Eisinger and A. Ruprecht. Automatic shape optimization of hydro turbine components based on CFD. In Proceedings of Seminar CFD for turbomachinery applications, Gdansk, september 2001. 4. G. Karypis and V. Kumar. Metis - unstructured graph partitioning and sparse matrix ordering system. Technical report, Department of Computer Science, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN, http://www.cs.umn.edu/metis, 1995. 5. U. Wssner, J. P. Schulze, S. P. Walz, and U. Lang. Evaluation of a collaborative o volume rendering application in a distributed virtual environment. In Proc. of the 8th Eurographics Workshop on Virtual Environments (EGVE), pages 113122. EG, may 2002.