seigtm / pyopengl-particle-system

Python-based OpenGL application that demonstrates a particle system simulation with a cylindrical emitter, particle trails, and plane attractor interaction.

Python OpenGL Particle System Simulation

This project demonstrates a particle system simulation with a cylindrical emitter, particle trails, and plane attractor interaction using OpenGL.

Features

• Cylindrical particle emitter with adjustable number of particles (50-500)
• Particle trails with adjustable length (1-10 positions)
• Transparency that changes based on particle lifetime
• Plane attractor that influences particle movement
• Interactive camera controls
• Real-time parameter display

Requirements

• Python 3.x
• NumPy
• PyOpenGL
• PyOpenGL-accelerate (optional, but recommended)

Installation

pip install -r requirements.txt

Usage

Run the application:

python main.py

Controls

• H: Toggle help display
• P: Pause simulation
• E: Toggle emitter visibility
• A: Toggle attractor visibility
• Space: Toggle attractor activation
• R: Reset particles
• Up/Down Arrows: Increase/decrease particle count by 50
• Left/Right Arrows: Decrease/increase trail length
• Mouse drag: Rotate view
• Mouse wheel: Zoom in/out

Implementation Details

Particle System

• Particles are emitted from the surface of a cylinder
• Each particle has:
  • Position and velocity
  • Size and color
  • Transparency that decreases with lifetime
  • Trail showing recent positions

Physics

• Particles move based on their velocity
• Plane attractor influences particles within its range
• Attraction force increases as particles get closer to the plane

Visualization

• Particles are rendered as points
• Trails are rendered as line segments with decreasing opacity
• Cylindrical emitter is shown as a wireframe
• Plane attractor is shown as a semi-transparent surface

Documentation

For detailed technical explanation (in Russian), see detailed_explanation_ru.md.