Levitating Rigid Objects with Hidden Rods and Wires
Abstract
We propose a novel algorithm to efficiently generate hidden structures to support arrangements of floating rigid objects. Our optimization finds a small set of rods and wires between objects and each other or a supporting surface (e.g., wall or ceiling) that hold all objects in force and torque equilibrium. Our objective function includes a sparsity inducing total volume term and a linear visibility term based on efficiently pre-computed Monte-Carlo integration, to encourage solutions that are as-hidden-as-possible. The resulting optimization is convex and the global optimum can be efficiently recovered via a linear program. Our representation allows for a user-controllable mixture of tension-, compression-, and shear-resistant rods or tension-only wires. We explore applications to theatre set design, museum exhibit curation, and other artistic endeavours.
Cite
@article{arxiv.2005.00074,
title = {Levitating Rigid Objects with Hidden Rods and Wires},
author = {Sarah Kushner and Risa Ulinski and Karan Singh and David I. W. Levin and Alec Jacobson},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2005.00074},
year = {2021}
}