Request for robotic simulation assistance

[ajpo!wellerd@sei.cmu.edu (David Weller)]

Real-time simulation of robotics requires contact detection to perform
dextrous "pick and place" operations.  In order to avoid visual image
pass-through of objects, this "detection of contact" must be considered
before the presented image is updated.

Ada and OOD concepts are being used to accomplish the actual
implementation of this task.  Polyhedrons are classified as either 
moving or static and compared to determine if contact has occurred.  Our
algorithm is two-stage: Possible collisions are determined by sphere-to-
sphere checking in the base coordinate frame, then edge-to-face checking 
reveals the point(s) of contact, if it exists.

Is there a more convenient form for collision detection between
objects in a graphical environment?  Additionally, our approach rests
heavily on sequential forms -- there is no tasking in our simple
model.  Is it prudent to build a graphical simulation of objects as
"tasks", particularly when real-time detection of collision (or 
collision avoidance) amongst all objects is important?  There is also
the outside chance that our simulation will work in a distributed 
environment -- will this impact design decisions?

(We're not asking you to do grunt work for us, we're just trying to
eliminate "deja vu" -- if somebody's already done this in Ada from an
OO mindset, we'd like to talk just to avoid mistakes and pitfalls)
 
All replies gratefully received, public or private.
Flames are not classified as replies -- please send to /dev/null

AdvTHANKSance.
D. Weller
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Mandatory .sig to eat bandwidth:
"Even barbarians like chocolate-chip cookies"
----------------------------------------------------------------------