Our team is developing a terrain visualization and deformation prototype for construction equipment manufacturer Caterpillar. Caterpillar is currently developing remote and autonomous control systems to allow for the safe operation of heavy equipment in hazardous environments such as power plants and mine sites. Our project is a proof of concept interface using techniques commonly found within the game industry to assist remote operators and increase their situational awareness through 3D visualization of their equipment and the terrain.
To accomplish this task, our team will develop a terrain modeling and deformation system that will utilize data streams coming from the remote equipment to update the surface, and use predictive deformation to estimate material placement that their equipment is currently incapable of reporting. We will develop a GUI to allow a remote operator to gain a quick and intuitive understanding of the state of the remote equipment and its position within the terrain. Additionally we will prepare a cost benefit analysis of various game or real-time engines to evaluate their suitability for this application.