OpenGL 3D graphics in MATLAB

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Introduction

In this article we use OpenGL interface for 3D scientific visualization. OpenGL was developed by Silicon Graphics and was released in 1992. OpenGL is a cross-language programming interface (API) for rendering 2D and 3D computer graphics. OpenGL is faster and comfortable than virtual reality toolbox. You can make many points in OpenGL with a sphere and you can change these points faster than the virtual reality toolbox.

Using the code

It is very easy to use this project. In MATLAB you must define points of your object and you must define the adjacency matrix of your mesh. For example suppose that we want to create a spring, first we must define the Points:

N=2000;
X_points=zeros(N,1);
Y_points=zeros(N,1);
Z_points=zeros(N,1);
Adj=zeros(N,N);
for i=1:N
        X_points(i)=cos(2*pi*5*i/N);
        Y_points(i)=sin(2*pi*5*i/N);
        Z_points(i)=(5*i/N-2)/4;
    if i<N
        Adj(i,i+1)=1;
    end
end
Showobject(X_points,Y_points,Z_points,Adj);

After you create your object you can zoom in and zoom out with right and left click on your object.

Points of Interest

You can use this for the finite element method (FEM). FEM is the mathematical approximation method for solving a partially differential equation (PDE).