[ODE] Good reference for solving LCP's?

Andrew Riehm andrew.riehm at gmail.com
Tue Apr 24 08:33:41 MST 2007


Thank you all for the replies - let me clear a few things up.

I have taken several courses on numerical analysis and differential
equations.  I understand how we can use computers to approximate
solutions to a (set of) ordinary differential equations.  It's the LCP
bit that I haven't seen before.  I agree wholeheartedly with your
sentiment about understanding the foundation and moving up.

Thanks again for your speedy responses!

On 4/24/07, Megan Fox <shalinor at gmail.com> wrote:
> Oh, of course.  I was answering the first bit of the question "how the
> physics engine works" - without really knowing where he's starting.
> If you can't solve the basic ODEs numerically, the joint constraints
> will lack the necessary foundation.  I'm a big fan of starting at the
> absolute foundation of a thing and moving up, rather than starting at
> the top and working down - sorry for being unclear.
>
> On 4/24/07, Jon Watte (ODE) <hplus-ode at mindcontrol.org> wrote:
> > Well, ODE does more than just solve ODEs. It solves the system of joint
> > constraints, which is where the LCP solver comes in. One google term
> > might be "big matrix solver" or "constraint relaxation" if you don't
> > want to just plug in LCP into MathWorld.
> >
> > Cheers,
> >
> >           / h+
> >
> >
> > Megan Fox wrote:
> > > I realize it's a generic response, but MathWorld is an excellent
> > > jump-off point for anything and everything math related.  Wikipedia is
> > > a close second, once you have a point of reference to start from.
> > >
> > > I'd say start with: RK4 (Runge-Kutta)
> > >
> > > ... or more generally, numerical solutions to Ordinary Differential
> > > Equations (or ODE's, hence the name).  I'd suggest a textbook about
> > > Numerical Analysis period, but... mine is terrible, and everyone else
> > > I know has a terrible one too.  If you find a decent one, let me know,
> > > mine is a glorified paper-weight occasionally useful in holding down
> > > my solid gold class notes.
> > >
> > > On 4/24/07, Andrew Riehm <andrew.riehm at gmail.com> wrote:
> > >
> > >> I'm trying to understand how the physics engine works, from a numerical
> > >> computing perspective, and I am having a hard time finding a good
> > >> comprehensive overview of what a linear complimentarity problem is and
> > >> what methods are used to solve them.  Can anyone point me to a good
> > >> reference (be it an online article, a book, or a journal)?
> > >>
> > >> --
> > >> Andrew Riehm
> > >> _______________________________________________
> > >> ODE mailing list
> > >> ODE at ode.org
> > >> http://ode.org/mailman/listinfo/ode
> > >>
> > >>
> > >
> > >
> > >
> >
>
>
> --
> Megan Fox
> Idyllon, LLC
> http://www.shalinor.com/
> http://www.idyllon.com/
>


-- 
Andrew Riehm
andrew.riehm at gmail.com

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