Research · Master's

Geo
Mesh

Master's project, as a research fellow, in partnership between UFF and Petrobras: a system to digitally reconstruct and visualize rock cores, rock samples taken from oil wells for analysis before extraction.

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// About the project

What was built

GeoMesh is a master's project, on which I'm a research fellow, in partnership between UFF and Petrobras. The core idea is to build a system that lets Petrobras geologists digitally visualize rock cores: pieces of rock taken from oil wells for soil analysis before extraction.

My responsibilities range from researching new methods for 3D reconstruction of the rock cores to using and implementing existing techniques, such as NeRF, Gaussian Splatting, and open-source Multi-View Stereo (MVS) solutions. The system is programmed in C++ and the core viewer in Unity and Unreal, with VR in some cases.

Since this is a closed project with Petrobras, I can't go into much public detail about the implementation.

// Challenges

What made the project difficult

// Fidelity

Geological fidelity

Reconstructing the rock core with enough detail for real geological analysis, not just a visual approximation, demands precision in the reconstruction techniques.

// Reconstruction

NeRF, Gaussian Splatting and MVS

Researching new methods and adapting existing techniques, like NeRF, Gaussian Splatting and open-source Multi-View Stereo solutions, to reconstruct the rock cores with good quality and a viable cost.

// System

C++ core

Building the system in C++, aiming for performance and control over the entire rock-core reconstruction process.

// Visualization

Unity, Unreal and VR

Delivering the viewer in two engines, Unity and Unreal, including VR, so geologists can explore the rock core in 3D naturally.

// Tools

Technical stack

C++

Unity

Unreal Engine

NeRF

Gaussian Splatting

MVS

// Outcome

What I learned

Applied research is different from theoretical research: the system needs to work for real people in real conditions, not just produce pretty results in a lab.

Unity, Unreal and VR: delivering the same viewer across two engines and in virtual reality greatly broadened my 3D visualization repertoire.

Interdisciplinary work: collaborating with geologists requires constant translation between computing and geology vocabularies.

Industry project: a closed project with Petrobras brings different constraints and requirements than a purely academic project.