Develop Reference

Air Resistance In this simulation causes the velocity to rise drastically

The issue I have is that I'm attempting to add drag to an object in this basic physics simulation (Java [Processing]), but once I add the appropriate formula, it causes the objects velocity to increase drastically in the opposite direction. Of course the problem is that drag for some reason is being calculated too high but I'm not sure why thats happening as I'm using the real world equation.
void setup(){size(1280,720);}
class Circle{
float x,y,r,m,dx,dy,ax,ay,fx,fy;
Circle(float xPos, float yPos, float Radius, float Mass){
x = xPos;
y = yPos;
r = Radius;
m = Mass;
}
void ADD_DRAG(){
fx -= 0.5 * 1.225 * dx * dx * 0.5 * r * PI;
fy -= 0.5 * 1.225 * dy * dy * 0.5 * r * PI;
}
void update(){
ADD_DRAG();
ax = fx / m;
ay = fy / m;
dx += ax / frameRate;
dy += ay / frameRate;
x += dx / frameRate;
y += dy / frameRate;
}
}
Circle[] SceneObjects = {new Circle(50,50,20,20000),new Circle(50,50,2,20)};
void draw(){
background(51);
for (Circle c : SceneObjects){
c.update();
circle(c.x * 3,c.y * 3,c.r * 3);
}
}
void mouseClicked(){
if(SceneObjects[1].fx != 2000)
SceneObjects[1].fx = 2000;
else
SceneObjects[1].fx = 0;
}
This is the code, essentially there is a Circle class which stores the objects properties and then the forces applies are updated each draw loop. The mouseClicked void is just for testing by adding a force to the objects. All and any help is appreciated, thanks!
Maths I am Using:
Rearranged F=ma for ax = fx / m;
Acceleration * time = Speed for dx += ax / frameRate; (frameRate is 1/time)
Distance = Speed * time = for x += dx / frameRate; (same as above)
For drag im using this equation https://www.grc.nasa.gov/WWW/K-12/rocket/drageq.html with the constants eg air density etc added as seen.

There are a couple of things wrong here.
You haven't given us numbers (or a minimal complete example), but the vector algebra is off.
Yes, the acceleration is f = -kv2, and |v|2 = vx2 + vy2, but that doesn't mean that you can decompose f into fx=kvx2 and fy=kvy2. Not only is your magnitude off, but your acceleration is now not (in general) aligned with the motion; the path of your projectile will tend to curve toward a diagonal between the axes (e.g. x=y).
Also, your code always gives acceleration in the negative x and negative y directions. If your projectile happens to start out going that way, your version of air resistance will speed it up.
Finally, your time interval may simply be too large.
There is a better way. The differential equation is v' = -k v|v|, and the exact solution is v = (1/kt) z, (with appropriate choice of the starting time) where z is the unit direction vector. (I don't know how to put a caret over a letter.) This leads to v(t) = (1/t)v(t=1.0)
So you can either work out a fictional time t0 and calculate each new velocity using 1/(kt), or you can calculate the new velocity from the previous velocity: vn+1 =vn/(kd vn + 1), where d is the time interval. (And then of course you have to decompose v into vx and vy properly.)
If you're not familiar with vector algebra, this may seem confusing, but you can't get an air-resistance sim to work without learning the basics.

In ARCore, how do I best place a triangle in my world near a Pose, that I can use for ray intersection?

I'm working with ARCore in Android Studio using java and am trying to implement ray intersection with an object.
I started with Google's provided sample (as found here: https://developers.google.com/ar/develop/java/getting-started).
Upon touching the screen, a ray gets projected and when this ray touches a Plane, a PlaneAttachment (with an Anchor/a Pose) is created in the intersection point.
I would then like to put a 3D triangle in the world attached to this Pose.
At the moment I create my Triangle based on the Pose's translation, like this:
In HelloArActivity, during onDrawFrame(...)
//Code from sample, determining the hits on planes
MotionEvent tap = mQueuedSingleTaps.poll();
if (tap != null && frame.getTrackingState() == TrackingState.TRACKING) {
for (HitResult hit : frame.hitTest(tap)) {
// Check if any plane was hit, and if it was hit inside the plane polygon.
if (hit instanceof PlaneHitResult && ((PlaneHitResult) hit).isHitInPolygon()) {
mTouches.add(new PlaneAttachment(
((PlaneHitResult) hit).getPlane(),
mSession.addAnchor(hit.getHitPose())));
//creating a triangle in the world
Pose hitPose = hit.getHitPose();
float[] poseCoords = new float[3];
hitPose.getTranslation(poseCoords, 0);
mTriangle = new Triangle(poseCoords);
}
}
}
Note: I am aware that the triangle's coordinates should be updated every time the Pose's coordinates get updated. I left this out as it is not part of my issue.
Triangle class
public class Triangle {
public float[] v0;
public float[] v1;
public float[] v2;
//create triangle around a given coordinate
public Triangle(float[] poseCoords){
float x = poseCoords[0], y = poseCoords[1], z = poseCoords[2];
this.v0 = new float[]{x+0.0001f, y-0.0001f, z};
this.v1 = new float[]{x, y+ 0.0001f, z-0.0001f};
this.v2 = new float[]{x-0.0001f, y, z+ 0.0001f};
}
After this, upon tapping the screen again I create a ray projected from the tapped (x,y) part of the screen, using Ian M his code sample provided in the answer to this question: how to check ray intersection with object in ARCore
Ray Creation, in HelloArActivity
/**
* Returns a world coordinate frame ray for a screen point. The ray is
* defined using a 6-element float array containing the head location
* followed by a normalized direction vector.
*/
float[] screenPointToWorldRay(float xPx, float yPx, Frame frame) {
float[] points = new float[12]; // {clip query, camera query, camera origin}
// Set up the clip-space coordinates of our query point
// +x is right:
points[0] = 2.0f * xPx / mSurfaceView.getMeasuredWidth() - 1.0f;
// +y is up (android UI Y is down):
points[1] = 1.0f - 2.0f * yPx / mSurfaceView.getMeasuredHeight();
points[2] = 1.0f; // +z is forwards (remember clip, not camera)
points[3] = 1.0f; // w (homogenous coordinates)
float[] matrices = new float[32]; // {proj, inverse proj}
// If you'll be calling this several times per frame factor out
// the next two lines to run when Frame.isDisplayRotationChanged().
mSession.getProjectionMatrix(matrices, 0, 1.0f, 100.0f);
Matrix.invertM(matrices, 16, matrices, 0);
// Transform clip-space point to camera-space.
Matrix.multiplyMV(points, 4, matrices, 16, points, 0);
// points[4,5,6] is now a camera-space vector. Transform to world space to get a point
// along the ray.
float[] out = new float[6];
frame.getPose().transformPoint(points, 4, out, 3);
// use points[8,9,10] as a zero vector to get the ray head position in world space.
frame.getPose().transformPoint(points, 8, out, 0);
// normalize the direction vector:
float dx = out[3] - out[0];
float dy = out[4] - out[1];
float dz = out[5] - out[2];
float scale = 1.0f / (float) Math.sqrt(dx*dx + dy*dy + dz*dz);
out[3] = dx * scale;
out[4] = dy * scale;
out[5] = dz * scale;
return out;
}
The result of this however is that, no matter where I tap the screen, it always counts as a hit (regardless of how much distance I add between the points, in Triangle's constructor).
I suspect this has to do with how a Pose is located in the world, and using the Pose's translation coordinates as a reference point for my triangle is not the way to go, so I'm looking for the correct way to do this, but any remarks regarding other parts of my method are welcome!
Also I have tested my method for ray-triangle intersection and I don't think it is the problem, but I'll include it here for completeness:
public Point3f intersectRayTriangle(CustomRay R, Triangle T) {
Point3f I = new Point3f();
Vector3f u, v, n;
Vector3f dir, w0, w;
float r, a, b;
u = new Vector3f(T.V1);
u.sub(new Point3f(T.V0));
v = new Vector3f(T.V2);
v.sub(new Point3f(T.V0));
n = new Vector3f(); // cross product
n.cross(u, v);
if (n.length() == 0) {
return null;
}
dir = new Vector3f(R.direction);
w0 = new Vector3f(R.origin);
w0.sub(new Point3f(T.V0));
a = -(new Vector3f(n).dot(w0));
b = new Vector3f(n).dot(dir);
if ((float)Math.abs(b) < SMALL_NUM) {
return null;
}
r = a / b;
if (r < 0.0) {
return null;
}
I = new Point3f(R.origin);
I.x += r * dir.x;
I.y += r * dir.y;
I.z += r * dir.z;
return I;
}
Thanks in advance!

Drawing normal faces with triangle strips?

I am having to calculate the normals for a triangle strip and am having a issue where every other triangle is dark and not shaded well. I am using the flat shade model. I can't tell if it has to do with the winding direction. When I look under the triangle strip i notice that it is the same thing as the top except the dark areas or switched. I think what the problem may be is that the surface normals I am trying to calculate are using shared vertices. If that is the case would you recommend switching to GL_TRIANGLES? How would you resolve this?
Here is what I have as of now. The triangle class is has the triVerts array in it which have three Vert objects. The Vert objects have variables x, y, and z.
Triangle currentTri = new Triangle();
int triPointIndex = 0;
List<Triangle> triList = new ArrayList<Triangle>()
GL11.glBegin(GL11.GL_TRIANGLE_STRIP);
int counter1 = 0;
float stripZ = 1.0f;
float randY;
for (float x=0.0f; x<20.0f; x+=2.0f) {
if (stripZ == 1.0f) {
stripZ = -1.0f;
} else { stripZ = 1.0f; }
randY = (Float) randYList.get(counter1);
counter1 += 1;
GL11.glVertex3f(x, randY, stripZ);
Vert currentVert = currentTri.triVerts[triPointIndex];
currentVert.x = x;
currentVert.y = randY;
currentVert.z = stripZ;
triPointIndex++;
System.out.println(triList);
Vector3f normal = new Vector3f();
float Ux = currentTri.triVerts[1].x - currentTri.triVerts[0].x;
float Uy = currentTri.triVerts[1].y - currentTri.triVerts[0].y;
float Uz = currentTri.triVerts[1].z - currentTri.triVerts[0].z;
float Vx = currentTri.triVerts[2].x - currentTri.triVerts[0].x;
float Vy = currentTri.triVerts[2].y - currentTri.triVerts[0].y;
float Vz = currentTri.triVerts[2].z - currentTri.triVerts[0].z;
normal.x = (Uy * Vz) - (Uz * Vy);
normal.y = (Uz * Vx) - (Ux * Vz);
normal.z = (Ux * Vy) - (Uy * Vx);
GL11.glNormal3f(normal.x, normal.y, normal.z);
if (triPointIndex == 3) {
triList.add(currentTri);
Triangle nextTri = new Triangle();
nextTri.triVerts[0] = currentTri.triVerts[1];
nextTri.triVerts[1] = currentTri.triVerts[2];
currentTri = nextTri;
triPointIndex = 2;
}
}
GL11.glEnd();

I had to draw a pyramid with about 8-10 faces and some lighting and I used triangles to be properly lighted. For each triangle I had to calculate the normal. This way it worked. Also I think is important to keep the clockwise/counter sense in which you draw the vertices for each triangle. I hope it helps.

Getting lon/lat from pixel coords in Google Static Map

I have a JAVA project to do using Google Static Maps and after hours and hours working, I can't get a thing working, I will explain everything and I hope someone will be able to help me.
I am using a static map (480pixels x 480pixels), the map's center is lat=47, lon=1.5 and the zoom level is 5.
Now what I need is being able to get lat and lon when I click a pixel on this static map. After some searches, I found that I should use Mercator Projection (right ?), I also found that each zoom level doubles the precision in both horizontal and vertical dimensions but I can't find the right formula to link pixel, zoom level and lat/lon...
My problem is only about getting lat/lon from pixel, knowing the center's coords and pixel and the zoom level...
Thank you in advance !

Use the Mercator projection.
If you project into a space of [0, 256) by [0,256]:
LatLng(47,=1.5) is Point(129.06666666666666, 90.04191318303863)
At zoom level 5, these equate to pixel coordinates:
x = 129.06666666666666 * 2^5 = 4130
y = 90.04191318303863 * 2^5 = 2881
Therefore, the top left of your map is at:
x = 4130 - 480/2 = 4070
y = 2881 - 480/2 = 2641
4070 / 2^5 = 127.1875
2641 / 2^5 = 82.53125
Finally:
Point(127.1875, 82.53125) is LatLng(53.72271667491848, -1.142578125)

Google-maps uses tiles for the map to efficient divide the world into a grid of 256^21 pixel tiles. Basically the world is made of 4 tiles in the lowest zoom. When you start to zoom you get 16 tiles and then 64 tiles and then 256 tiles. It basically a quadtree. Because such a 1d structure can only flatten a 2d you also need a mercantor projection or a conversion to WGS 84. Here is a good resource Convert long/lat to pixel x/y on a given picture. There is function in Google Maps that convert from lat-long pair to pixel. Here is a link but it says the tiles are 128x128 only: http://michal.guerquin.com/googlemaps.html.
Google Maps V3 - How to calculate the zoom level for a given bounds
http://www.physicsforums.com/showthread.php?t=455491

Based on the math in Chris Broadfoot's answer above and some other code on Stack Overflow for the Mercator Projection, I got this
public class MercatorProjection implements Projection {
private static final double DEFAULT_PROJECTION_WIDTH = 256;
private static final double DEFAULT_PROJECTION_HEIGHT = 256;
private double centerLatitude;
private double centerLongitude;
private int areaWidthPx;
private int areaHeightPx;
// the scale that we would need for the a projection to fit the given area into a world view (1 = global, expect it to be > 1)
private double areaScale;
private double projectionWidth;
private double projectionHeight;
private double pixelsPerLonDegree;
private double pixelsPerLonRadian;
private double projectionCenterPx;
private double projectionCenterPy;
public MercatorProjection(
double centerLatitude,
double centerLongitude,
int areaWidthPx,
int areaHeightPx,
double areaScale
) {
this.centerLatitude = centerLatitude;
this.centerLongitude = centerLongitude;
this.areaWidthPx = areaWidthPx;
this.areaHeightPx = areaHeightPx;
this.areaScale = areaScale;
// TODO stretch the projection to match to deformity at the center lat/lon?
this.projectionWidth = DEFAULT_PROJECTION_WIDTH;
this.projectionHeight = DEFAULT_PROJECTION_HEIGHT;
this.pixelsPerLonDegree = this.projectionWidth / 360;
this.pixelsPerLonRadian = this.projectionWidth / (2 * Math.PI);
Point centerPoint = projectLocation(this.centerLatitude, this.centerLongitude);
this.projectionCenterPx = centerPoint.x * this.areaScale;
this.projectionCenterPy = centerPoint.y * this.areaScale;
}
#Override
public Location getLocation(int px, int py) {
double x = this.projectionCenterPx + (px - this.areaWidthPx / 2);
double y = this.projectionCenterPy + (py - this.areaHeightPx / 2);
return projectPx(x / this.areaScale, y / this.areaScale);
}
#Override
public Point getPoint(double latitude, double longitude) {
Point point = projectLocation(latitude, longitude);
double x = (point.x * this.areaScale - this.projectionCenterPx) + this.areaWidthPx / 2;
double y = (point.y * this.areaScale - this.projectionCenterPy) + this.areaHeightPx / 2;
return new Point(x, y);
}
// from https://stackoverflow.com/questions/12507274/how-to-get-bounds-of-a-google-static-map
Location projectPx(double px, double py) {
final double longitude = (px - this.projectionWidth/2) / this.pixelsPerLonDegree;
final double latitudeRadians = (py - this.projectionHeight/2) / -this.pixelsPerLonRadian;
final double latitude = rad2deg(2 * Math.atan(Math.exp(latitudeRadians)) - Math.PI / 2);
return new Location() {
#Override
public double getLatitude() {
return latitude;
}
#Override
public double getLongitude() {
return longitude;
}
};
}
Point projectLocation(double latitude, double longitude) {
double px = this.projectionWidth / 2 + longitude * this.pixelsPerLonDegree;
double siny = Math.sin(deg2rad(latitude));
double py = this.projectionHeight / 2 + 0.5 * Math.log((1 + siny) / (1 - siny) ) * -this.pixelsPerLonRadian;
Point result = new org.opencv.core.Point(px, py);
return result;
}
private double rad2deg(double rad) {
return (rad * 180) / Math.PI;
}
private double deg2rad(double deg) {
return (deg * Math.PI) / 180;
}
}
Here's a unit test for the original answer
public class MercatorProjectionTest {
#Test
public void testExample() {
// tests against values in https://stackoverflow.com/questions/10442066/getting-lon-lat-from-pixel-coords-in-google-static-map
double centerLatitude = 47;
double centerLongitude = 1.5;
int areaWidth = 480;
int areaHeight = 480;
// google (static) maps zoom level
int zoom = 5;
MercatorProjection projection = new MercatorProjection(
centerLatitude,
centerLongitude,
areaWidth,
areaHeight,
Math.pow(2, zoom)
);
Point centerPoint = projection.projectLocation(centerLatitude, centerLongitude);
Assert.assertEquals(129.06666666666666, centerPoint.x, 0.001);
Assert.assertEquals(90.04191318303863, centerPoint.y, 0.001);
Location topLeftByProjection = projection.projectPx(127.1875, 82.53125);
Assert.assertEquals(53.72271667491848, topLeftByProjection.getLatitude(), 0.001);
Assert.assertEquals(-1.142578125, topLeftByProjection.getLongitude(), 0.001);
// NOTE sample has some pretty serious rounding errors
Location topLeftByPixel = projection.getLocation(0, 0);
Assert.assertEquals(53.72271667491848, topLeftByPixel.getLatitude(), 0.05);
// the math for this is wrong in the sample (see comments)
Assert.assertEquals(-9, topLeftByPixel.getLongitude(), 0.05);
Point reverseTopLeftBase = projection.projectLocation(topLeftByPixel.getLatitude(), topLeftByPixel.getLongitude());
Assert.assertEquals(121.5625, reverseTopLeftBase.x, 0.1);
Assert.assertEquals(82.53125, reverseTopLeftBase.y, 0.1);
Point reverseTopLeft = projection.getPoint(topLeftByPixel.getLatitude(), topLeftByPixel.getLongitude());
Assert.assertEquals(0, reverseTopLeft.x, 0.001);
Assert.assertEquals(0, reverseTopLeft.y, 0.001);
Location bottomRightLocation = projection.getLocation(areaWidth, areaHeight);
Point bottomRight = projection.getPoint(bottomRightLocation.getLatitude(), bottomRightLocation.getLongitude());
Assert.assertEquals(areaWidth, bottomRight.x, 0.001);
Assert.assertEquals(areaHeight, bottomRight.y, 0.001);
}
}
If you're (say) working with aerial photography, I feel like the algorithm doesn't take into account the stretching effect of the mercator projection, so it might lose accuracy if your region of interest isn't relatively close to the equator. I guess you could approximate it by multiplying your x coordinates by cos(latitude) of the center?

It seems worth mentioning that you can actually have the google maps API give you the latitudinal & longitudinal coordinates from pixel coordinates.
While it's a little convoluted in V3 here's an example of how to do it. (NOTE: This is assuming you already have a map and the pixel vertices to be converted to a lat&lng coordinate):
let overlay = new google.maps.OverlayView();
overlay.draw = function() {};
overlay.onAdd = function() {};
overlay.onRemove = function() {};
overlay.setMap(map);
let latlngObj = overlay.fromContainerPixelToLatLng(new google.maps.Point(pixelVertex.x, pixelVertex.y);
overlay.setMap(null); //removes the overlay
Hope that helps someone.
UPDATE: I realized that I did this two ways, both still utilizing the same way of creating the overlay (so I won't duplicate that code).
let point = new google.maps.Point(628.4160703464878, 244.02779437950872);
console.log(point);
let overlayProj = overlay.getProjection();
console.log(overlayProj);
let latLngVar = overlayProj.fromContainerPixelToLatLng(point);
console.log('the latitude is: '+latLngVar.lat()+' the longitude is: '+latLngVar.lng());

java 3D rotation with quaternions

I have this method for rotating points in 3D using quaternions, but it seems not to work properly:
public static ArrayList<Float> rotation3D(ArrayList<Float> points, double angle, int xi, int yi, int zi)
{
ArrayList<Float> newPoints = new ArrayList<>();
for (int i=0;i<points.size();i+=3)
{
float x_old = points.get(i);
float y_old = points.get(i+1);
float z_old = points.get(i+2);
double w = Math.cos(angle/2.0);
double x = xi*Math.sin(angle/2.0);
double y = yi*Math.sin(angle/2.0);
double z = zi*Math.sin(angle/2.0);
float x_new = (float) ((1 - 2*y*y -2*z*z)*x_old + (2*x*y + 2*w*z)*y_old + (2*x*z-2*w*y)*z_old);
float y_new = (float) ((2*x*y - 2*w*z)*x_old + (1 - 2*x*x - 2*z*z)*y_old + (2*y*z + 2*w*x)*z_old);
float z_new = (float) ((2*x*z + 2*w*y)*x_old + (2*y*z - 2*w*x)*y_old + (1 - 2*x*x - 2*y*y)*z_old);
newPoints.add(x_new);
newPoints.add(y_new);
newPoints.add(z_new);
}
return newPoints;
}
If i make this call rotation3D(list, Math.toRadians(90), 0, 1, 0); where points is (0,0,10), the output is (-10.0, 0.0, 2.220446E-15), but it should be (-10,0,0), right? Could someone take a look at my code and tell me if is there somethig wrong?
Here are 4 screens that represent the initial position of my object, and 3 rotations with -90 degrees (the object is not properly painted, that's a GL issue, that i will work on later):

I haven't studied the code but what you get from it is correct: Assuming a left-handed coordinate system, when you rotate the point (0,0,10) 90 degrees around the y-axis (i.e. (0,1,0)) you end up with (-10,0,0).
If your coordinate system is right-handed I think you have to reverse the sign of the angle.