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Drawing Ruled Surfaces Using the Dual De Boor Algorithm

https://doi.org/10.1016/S1571-0661(04)00312-3Get rights and content
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Abstract

This paper outlines emerging methods, presently under investigation, for constructing ruled surfaces and solid-body trajectories in a Computer Aided Geometric Design (CAGD) context. The underlying principle is that of the standard De Boor Algorithm [4,2,15] for constructing B-spline curves on the plane, or in 3-dimensional space. But the coordinates of all 3-vector points including the control points to be interpolated are now taken to be dual, not real, numbers. When the six resulting number components are interpreted as Pl ű cker coordinates [12], each dual point finds interpretation as a line, and each curve as a ruled surface, in 3-dimensional space. The construction of a duplicated surface is discussed along with some new methods based on a rigid body character. The problem of drawing infinitely long lines, on a screen, as represented by Pl űcker coordinates, is touched upon.

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