Patent ID: 8217932

Claim:
A method for simulating interaction between a tool and an object, the method comprising: providing a tool model for simulating the tool in a simulated environment; providing a mesh for simulating an object in the simulated environment, the mesh comprising a plurality of nodes and a plurality of first force functions between pairs of nodes, each first force function being a function of a distance between its corresponding pair of nodes; deforming the mesh in response to interaction between the tool model and the mesh in the simulated environment, wherein deforming the mesh comprises: displacing one or more initially displaced nodes, displacing one or more level-one-connected nodes, displacement of each level-one-connected node dependent on at least one first force function between the level-one-connected node and a corresponding one of the one or more initially displaced nodes, iteratively displacing one or more level-n-connected nodes, displacement of each level-n-connected node dependent on at least one first force function between the level-n-connected node and a corresponding one of the one or more level n−1 connected nodes, where n=2 in a first iteration and increases by one with each iteration, and on each iteration, for each level-n-connected node evaluating one or more displacement propagation conditions and discontinuing iterative displacement for nodes which do not satisfy the displacement propagation conditions.