Graphics Reference
In-Depth Information
Chapter
2
Collision Detection
Design Issues
Designing an efficient collision detection system is a bit like putting a puzzle together:
a lot of pieces must be connected before the big picture starts to appear. In a similar
fashion, the majority of this topic is concerned with examining the individual pieces
that go into different approaches to collision detection. The big picture will become
clear over the course of the topic. This chapter provides a quick overview of a number
of issues that must be considered in selecting among approaches, and how the com-
ponents of these approaches relate. This chapter also introduces a number of terms,
defined and explained further in following chapters. More in-depth coverage of the
items touched upon here is provided throughout remaining chapters of the topic.
2.1
Collision Algorithm Design Factors
There are several factors affecting the choices made in designing a collision detection
system. These factors will be broken down into the following categories:
1.
Application domain representation
. The geometrical representations used for the
scene and its objects have a direct bearing on the algorithms used. With
fewer restrictions put on these representations, more general collision detection
solutions have to be used, with possible performance repercussions.
2.
Different types of queries
. Generally, the more detailed query types and results are,
the more computational effort required to obtain them. Additional data struc-
tures may be required to support certain queries. Not all object representations
support all query types.
3.
Environment simulation parameters
. The simulation itself contains several param-
eters having a direct impact on a collision detection system. These include how
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