Using the compute shader for cloth simulation
The compute shader is well suited for harnessing the GPU for physical simulation. Cloth simulation is a prime example. In this recipe, we'll implement a simple particle-spring based cloth simulation using the compute shader. The following is a screenshot of the simulation of a cloth hanging by five pins. (You'll have to imagine it animating.)
A common way to represent cloth is with a particle-spring lattice. The cloth is composed of a 2D grid of point masses, each connected to its eight neighboring masses with idealized springs. The following figure represents one of the point masses (center) connected to its neighboring masses. The lines represent the springs. The dark lines are the horizontal/vertical springs and the dashed lines are the diagonal springs.
The total force on a particle is the sum of the forces produced by the eight springs to which it is connected. The force for a single spring is given by the following equation:
Where...
