Modeling Flexibility with Spline Approximations for Fast

This paper presents modeling of bending objects using Splines for fast calculations suitable for virtual reality (VR) visualizations in a CAD tool. In Micro-Electro-Mechanical Systems (MEMS), some structures that are involved in the electro-mechanical interaction are subject to flexible deformation, e.g. flicking and bending cantilevers, springs, valves, or membranes for pumps. Few MEMS simulators display animations of moving structures at all. Flexible deformations are calculated with Finite Elements Modeling (FEM), whose slow data processing is unsuitable for interactive VR. We are trying to overcome this shortage by building a MEMS simulator that displays VR visualizations as simulated functioning of the device being designed. For 2D screen visualizations, the information of the internal 3D structure of a body obtained with FEM is often not relevant. It is therefore we are finding methods for fast approximations that are suitable for VR, yet physically truthful. We calibrate our models with FEM, and find the families of splines corresponding to bending specific shapes for different materials and thick nesses. The obtained models can then be used in our CAD tool for fast VR visualizations. 1