Limitations
A primary limit of physics engine realism is the precision of the numbers representing the positions of and forces acting upon objects. When precision is too low, rounding errors affect results and small fluctuations not modeled in the simulation can drastically change the predicted results; simulated objects can behave unexpectedly or arrive at the wrong location. The errors are compounded in situations where two free-moving objects are fit together with a precision that is greater than what the physics engine can calculate. This can lead to an unnatural buildup energy in the object due to the rounding errors that begins to violently shake and eventually blow the objects apart. Any type of free-moving compound physics object can demonstrate this problem, but it is especially prone to affecting chain links under high tension and wheeled objects with actively physical bearing surfaces. Higher precision reduces the positional/force errors, but at the cost of greater CPU power needed for the calculations.
Read more about this topic: Physics Engine
Famous quotes containing the word limitations:
“No man could bring himself to reveal his true character, and, above all, his true limitations as a citizen and a Christian, his true meannesses, his true imbecilities, to his friends, or even to his wife. Honest autobiography is therefore a contradiction in terms: the moment a man considers himself, even in petto, he tries to gild and fresco himself.”
—H.L. (Henry Lewis)
“... art transcends its limitations only by staying within them.”
—Flannery O’Connor (1925–1964)
“Much of what contrives to create critical moments in parenting stems from a fundamental misunderstanding as to what the child is capable of at any given age. If a parent misjudges a child’s limitations as well as his own abilities, the potential exists for unreasonable expectations, frustration, disappointment and an unrealistic belief that what the child really needs is to be punished.”
—Lawrence Balter (20th century)