Approximating polyhedral objects with deformable smooth surfaces

We propose a method to approximate a polyhedral object with a deformable smooth surface, namely the t-skin defined by Edelsbrunner for all 0 < t < 1. We guarantee that they are homeomorphic and their Hausdorff distance is at most ε > 0. This construction makes it possible for fully automatic, smooth and robust deformation between two polyhedral objects with different topologies. En route to our results, we also give an approximation of a polyhedral object with a union of balls. © 2006 Published by Elsevier B.V.