Case Study
Interactive Sun Ray Casting Simulation
A real-time 2D graphics simulation demonstrating dynamic ray casting and shadow generation.
Overview
An interactive simulation where users can move both light sources and obstacles to observe dynamic ray behavior and shadow generation.
Architecture
Built in C using SDL2. Rays are emitted from a movable light source and dynamically intersect with scene geometry to generate real-time shadows.
Tech Stack
CSDL2Computer GraphicsGeometryRendering
System Design
The rendering loop continuously emits rays in 360 degrees, computes intersections, and updates the visibility map every frame.
Challenges
- 01Efficient collision detection
- 02Maintaining real-time frame rates
- 03Accurate geometric intersection calculations
- 04Interactive object manipulation
Implementation
Implemented ray-object intersection testing, dynamic scene updates, and optimized rendering paths using SDL2.
Results
Achieved smooth rendering performance while visualizing hundreds of rays and intersections simultaneously.
Lessons Learned
- —Spatial algorithms benefit greatly from visualization
- —Graphics programming requires balancing accuracy and performance
- —Interactive systems expose edge cases quickly