Research Projects
2016 - 2017
Optimization of Interior Lighting Design using Genetic Algorithms
University of Catania
Lighting design for interior spaces is the process of integrating artificial light sources into architectural complexes. If one takes into account other criteria besides the adequate amount of illumination, such as energy saving, lighting design can be formulated as a multi-objective optimization problem, which can be tackle with genetic algorithms. This work was the result of my master thesis in which I experimented with the training of genetic algorithms within a simulated 3D environment rendered using physically-based ray tracing. I adopted the CG software Blender to reproduce the architectural space and simulate the effect of illumination. Then, I implemented a variant of the NSGA-II genetic algorithm to optimize locations and intensities of the light sources while keeping the energy consumption to a minimum.
2015 - 2016
Simulating Fire Outbreaks in Industrial Environments
University of Catania
This work started as a continuation of my bachelor thesis on computational geometric algorithms for real-time calculation of the minimum separation distance between poliedra. I adopted the same algorithms developed in my thesis in a novel system to simulate in 3D the risk of fire outbreaks in complex industrial plants. The system uses the 3D CG software Blender to render the high-quality model of a real oil refinery and to simulates the dynamics of the flames. Then, the proposed algorithm predicts how the heat affects critical components of the industrial plant depending on their proximity. This system has later been integrated into a wider framework for risk assessment and emergency management.
