Collision Detection Trough Deconstruction of Articulated Objects

Many applications in computer graphics require fast and robust collision detection algorithms. The problem of simulating motion in an articulated chain has been well studied using both dynamic and kinematics techniques. This paper describes an efficient method for obstacle representation in the configuration space (C-space) for articulated chains. The method is based on the analytical deconstruction of the Cspace, i.e., the separated evaluation of the C-space portion contributed by the collisions of each link. The Deconstruction method is not limited to particular kinematic topologies and allows good collision detection times. The systematic application of a simple convolution of two functions describing each link in the kinematic chain and the workspace, respectively, is applied. The proposed method can naturally face the evaluation of high-dimensional C-spaces, since only non-colliding configurations are considered for the evaluation of the next link in the chain.