[ODE] enhanced ODE collision API

[Russ Smith]

> Have box-box collisions (specifically the problem of not generating
> enough contact joints) been fixed yet?

not yet - it has been on my list for a while. look at dBoxBox() in
geom.cpp. note that there are many ways to badly generate multiple
contact points, and only a few good ways (but i don't want to discourage
you! by all means fix this annoying problem...)

> The cylinder class you refer to -- would this be a flat-ended
> cylinder, as opposed to the (slightly weird but I guess easier to
> program) hemisphere-ended cylinder that already exists?

yes. this was contributed by Konstantin Slipchenko a short while ago.
the capped cylinders are easier to code, it's true, but they're
preferable to flat ended cylinders when you need some long thin object
that doesn't need to stand on its own. this is because the contact
points generated by capped cylinders are much more predictable than that
for flat-end cylinders, and less sensitive to geom position changes.
this makes for more stable dynamics.

> Have you considered using octtrees to optimize collision tests for
> complex scenes?

i believe erwin is working on this.

russ.

-- 
Russell Smith
http://www.q12.org