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A GPU persistent grid mapping for terrain rendering

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Abstract

In this paper we present persistent grid mapping (PGM), a novel framework for interactive view-dependent terrain rendering. Our algorithm is geared toward high utilization of modern GPUs, and takes advantage of ray tracing and mesh rendering. The algorithm maintains multiple levels of the elevation and color maps to achieve a faithful sampling of the viewed region. The rendered mesh ensures the absence of cracks and degenerate triangles that may cause the appearance of visual artifacts. In addition, an external texture memory support is provided to enable the rendering of terrains that exceed the size of texture memory. Our experimental results show that the PGM algorithm provides high quality images at steady frame rates.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Computer Science, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Beer-Sheva, Israel

    Yotam Livny, Neta Sokolovsky, Tal Grinshpoun & Jihad El-Sana

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  1. Yotam Livny
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  2. Neta Sokolovsky
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  3. Tal Grinshpoun
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  4. Jihad El-Sana
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Correspondence to Yotam Livny.

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Livny, Y., Sokolovsky, N., Grinshpoun, T. et al. A GPU persistent grid mapping for terrain rendering. Visual Comput 24, 139–153 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00371-007-0180-1

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