We present a data structure and an algorithm for efficient and exact interference detection amongst complex models undergoing rigid motion. The algorithm is applicable to all general polygonal models. It pre-computes a hierarchical representation of models using tight-fitting oriented bounding box trees (OBBTrees). At runtime, the algorithm traverses two such trees and tests for overlaps between oriented bounding boxes based on a separating axis theorem, which takes less than 200 operations in practice. It has been implemented and we compare its performance with other hierarchical data structures. In particular, it can robustly and accurately detect all the contacts between large complex geometries composed of hundreds of thousands of polygons at interactive rates.

This paper presents a method for approximating polyhedral objects to support a timecritical collision-detection algorithm. The approximations are hierarchies of spheres, and they allow the time-critical algorithm to progressively refine the accuracy of its detection, stopping as needed to maintain the real-time performance essential for interactive applications. The key to this approach is a preprocess that automatically builds tightly fitting hierarchies for rigid and articulated objects. The preprocess uses medial-axis surfaces, which are skeletal representations of objects. These skeletons guide an optimization technique that gives the hierarchies accuracy properties appropriate for collision detection. In a sample application, hierarchies built this way allow the time-critical collision-detection algorithm to have acceptable accuracy, improving significantly on that possible with hierarchies built by previous techniques. The performance of the time-critical algorithm in this appli...

Solid objects in the real world do not pass through each other when they collide. Enforcing this property of "solidness" is important in many interactive graphics applications; for example, solidness makes virtual reality more believable, and solidness is essential for the correctness of vehicle simulators. These applications use a collision-detection algorithm to enforce the solidness of objects. Unfortunately, previous collision-detection algorithms do not adequately address the needs of interactive applications. To work in these applications, a collision-detection algorithm must run at real-time rates, even when many objects can collide, and it must tolerate objects whose motion is specified "on the fly" by a user. This dissertation describes a new collision-detection algorithm that meets these criteria through approximation and graceful degradation, elements of time-critical computing. The algorithm is not only fast but also interruptible, allowing an application to trade accuracy ...

This paper presents a state of the art report of our project, the main objectives of which are: -- Categorization and summary of the geometric concepts required in a functionally based modeling environment; -- Elaboration of a rich system of geometric operations closed on functionally represented objects; -- Treatment of multidimensional and particularly space-time objects in a uniform manner; 6

We present efficient algorithms for collision detection and contact determination between geometric models, described by linear or curved boundaries, undergoing rigid motion. The heart of our collision detection algorithm is a simple and fast incremental method to compute the distance between two convex polyhedra. It utilizes convexity to establish some local applicability criteria for verifying the closest features. A preprocessing procedure is used to subdivide each feature's neighboring features to a constant size and thus guarantee expected constant running time for each test. The expected constant time performance is an attribute from exploiting the geometric coherence and locality. Let n be the total number of features, the expected run time is between O( p n) and O(n) ...

Collision detection and response can make a virtual-reality application seem more believable. Unfortunately, existing collision-detection algorithms are too slow for interactive use. We present a new algorithm that is not only fast but also interruptible, allowing an application to trade quality for more speed. Our algorithm uses simple four-dimensional geometry to approximate motion, and sets of spheres to approximate three-dimensional surfaces. The algorithm allows a sample application to run 5 to 7 times faster than it runs with existing algorithms. 1 Introduction The physical world we live in is filled with solid objects. When solid objects collide, they do not penetrate one another (unless they flex or break). A computer simulation of a virtual world will seem more believable if it exhibits this property. We use the term collision-handling algorithm for the part of the simulation system that enforces the solidness of objects. Researchers have developed a variety of collisionhand...

solid models

We present an efficient and robust algorithm for finding points of collision between time-dependent parametric and implicit surfaces. The algorithm detects simultaneous collisions at multiple points of contact. When the regions of contact form curves or surfaces, it returns a finite set of points uniformly distributed over each contact region. Collisions can be computed for a very general class of surfaces: those for which inclusion functions can be constructed. Included in this set are the familiar kinds of surfaces and time behaviors encountered in computer graphics. We use a new interval approach for constrained minimization to detect collisions, and a tangency condition to reduce the dimensionality of the search space. These approaches make interval methods practical for multi-point collisions between complex surfaces. An interval Newton method based on the solution of the interval linear equation is used to speed convergence to the collision time and location. This method is mor...

We describe a new method for numeric computations, which we call affine arithmetic (AA). This model is similar to standard interval arithmetic, to the extent that it automatically keeps track of rounding and truncation errors for each computed value. However, by taking into account correlations between operands and sub-formulas, AA is able to provide much tighter bounds for the computed quantities, with errors that are approximately quadratic in the uncertainty of the input variables. We also describe two applications of AA to computer graphics problems, where this feature is particularly valuable: namely, ray tracing and the construction of octrees for implicit surfaces.

We introduce a new method of creating smooth implicit surfaces of arbitrary manifold topology. These surfaces are described by specifying locations in 3D through which the surface should pass, and also identifying locations that are interior or exterior to the surface. A 3D implicit function is created from these constraints using a variational scattered data interpolation approach. We call the iso-surface of this function a variational implicit surface. Like other implicit surface descriptions, these surfaces can be used for CSG and interference detection, may be interactively manipulated, are readily approximated by polygonal tilings, and are easy to ray trace. A key strength is that variational implicit surfaces allow the direct specification of both the location of points on the surface and surface normals. These are two important manipulation techniques that are difficult to achieve using other implicit surface representations such as sums of spherical or ellipsoidal Gaussian functions ("blobbies"). We show that these properties make variational implicit surfaces particularly attractive for interactive sculpting using the particle sampling technique introduced by Witkin and Heckbert in [30]. Our formulation also yields a simple method for converting a polygonal model to a smooth implicit model.