Making Boolean operations robust

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• Julian Smith, Rainbow Group, University of Cambridge Computer Lab
• Thursday 17 November 2005, 14:15-15:15
• Rainbow Room (FS07), Computer Laboratory.

If you have a question about this talk, please contact Alan Blackwell.

There are serious problems in computing the union, intersection or difference between two boundary mesh shapes when using approximate arithmetic, because inaccuracies and inconsistencies in the low-level calculations can lead to an invalid result. Two types of error can occur: topological errors, usually manifested as cracks in the ‘boundary’, and geometrical errors, often manifested as a self-intersecting ‘boundary’. The traditional approach taken by system developers is to invest effort in tuning a system so that it tends to avoid catastrophic failure for typical applications. Others have adopted the approach of resorting to exact arithmetic to achieve 100% reliability. I shall describe the algorithm I devised, based on standard machine arithmetic, that provably generates a topologically valid result. I shall also describe my latest work that addresses the issue of geometric errors.

This talk is part of the Rainbow Graphics Seminars series.

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• Rainbow Room (FS07), Computer Laboratory

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