Skydiving simulation with Perl
FREE FALL
Computer game programmers apply physical formulas and special tricks to create realistic animations. Simple DirectMedia Layer (SDL), which is available as a Perl wrapper, provides a powerful framework for creating simple 2D worlds with just a couple of lines of code.
After ripping an old VHS cassette of my tandem skydive, posting it on YouTube, and mailing the link [2]to a couple of guys at work, a debate about the physical laws that apply during a parachute jump ensued.
In a simplified model that ignores crosswinds, the jumper starts with a vertical speed of vy = 0 and immediately starts to accelerate because of gravity. Drag, which grows proportionally with the skydiver’s downward speed, counteracts gravity. Depending on the skydiver’s weight and proportions, a balance of forces occurs at around 180 km/ h, and the downward speed becomes constant. At this point, skydivers feel like they are floating in space, and this state continues until the chute opens, which feels like they are being pulled upward with a rope.
Read full article as PDF »
Perl_Skydiving_Simulation.pdf (337.38 kB)Tag Cloud
News
-
Google and NASA Partner in Quantum Computing Project
Vendor D-Wave scores big with a sale to NASA's Quantum Intelligence Lab.
-
Mageia Project Announces Mageia 3 Linux
Many package updates and Steam integration highlight the latest from the Mandriva-based community Linux.
-
FSF Outs the World Wide Web Consortium over DRM Proposal
Richard Stallman calls for the W3C to remain independent of vendor interests.
-
Debian 7.0 Debuts
The new release supports nine architectures, 73 human languages, and zero non-Free components.
-
Alpha Version of Fedora 19 Released
Fedora developers release the first alpha version of Fedora 19, known as Schrödinger’s Cat, for general testing. The final release is expected in July 2013.
-
ack 2.0 Released
ack is a grep-like, command-line tool that has been optimized for programmers to search large trees of source code.
-
SUSE Studio 1.3 Released
New features in SUSE Studio 1.3 include enhanced cloud integration, VM platform support, and lifecycle management.
-
Xen To Become Linux Foundation Collaborative Project
The Linux Foundation recently announced that the Xen Project is becoming a Linux Foundation Collaborative Project.
-
RunRev Releases Open Source Version of LiveCode
Open source version of LiveCode is now available for developing apps, games, and utilities for all major platforms.
-
OpenDaylight Project Formed
OpenDaylight is an open source software-defined networking project committed to furthering adoption of SDN and accelerating innovation in a vendor-neutral and open environment.
