A hierarchical method for real-time distance computation among moving convex bodies

This paper presents the Hierarchical Walk, or H-Walk algorithm, which maintains the distance between two moving convex bodies by exploiting both motion coherence and hierarchical representations. For convex polygons, we prove that H-Walk improves on the classic Lin-Canny and Dobkin-Kirkpatrick algorithms. We have implemented H-Walk for moving convex polyhedra in three dimensions. Experimental results indicate that, unlike previous incremental distance computation algorithms, H-Walk adapts well to variable coherence in the motion and provides consistent performance.

• Type: Journal
• Year: 2000
• Where: COMGEO
• Authors: Leonidas J. Guibas, David Hsu, Li Zhang
• Keywords: Algorithms, Applied Computing, COMGEO 2000, Convex Bodies, Hierarchical Walk