1. Sentence: We present a method for directly modeling piles of objects in multibody simulations.
2. Problem: Object piling and stacking is interesting and common, but simulating an entire pile of objects is resource-intensive. In addition, correct behavior depends on friction forces, which are even harder to compute.
3. Key Idea: Represent a pile using a stacking structure, which controls the shape of the pile (faking the effects of friction) and determines which objects to put to sleep.
4.a What the paper does: Presents a stacking structure, conditions to put an object to sleep, and an “avalanching” technique to wake objects up and ensure balanced and realistic piles.
4.b. What it could be used for: Cheaply representing any pile of similar objects in a simplified-physics environment.
5. Resources: Demo