Simulating sand / archaelogical dig

[vSklesser]

Hello, we're trying to create an archeological dig, specifically using a haptic device (the PHANTOM OMNI). We envision having a sidebar on the left with a few tools, like a brush, pickaxe, shovel, which the user could select. Then they would use the tools to brush away the sand or break apart a rock. We were wondering if is any existing code base for creating sand which could be brushed away. Thank you!

[Jeff]

Do you want to brush away this sand in order to reveal an object underneath. In this case, maybe there is another way to do this. The ground above the object could be made of polygons that get more and more transparent with every pass of the tool, slowly revealing the object.