Header menu link for other important links
X
A Randomized Approach to Volume Constrained Polyhedronization Problem
Published in American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME)
2015
Volume: 15
   
Issue: 1
Abstract
Given a finite set of points in R3, polyhedronization deals with constructing a simple polyhedron such that the vertices of the polyhedron are precisely the given points. In this paper, we present randomized approximation algorithms for minimal volume polyhedronization (MINVP) and maximal volume polyhedronization (MAXVP) of three dimensional point sets in general position. Both, MINVP and MAXVP, problems have been shown to be NP-hard and to the best of our knowledge, no practical algorithms exist to solve these problems. It has been shown that for any point set S in R3, there always exists a tetrahedralizable polyhedronization of S. We exploit this fact to develop a greedy heuristic for MINVP and MAXVP constructions. Further, we present an empirical analysis on the quality of the approximation results of some well defined point sets. The algorithms have been validated by comparing the results with the optimal results generated by an exhaustive searching (brute force) method for MINVP and MAXVP for some well chosen point sets of smaller sizes. Finally, potential applications of minimum and maximum volume polyhedra in 4D printing and surface lofting, respectively, have been discussed. © 2015 by ASME.
About the journal
JournalJournal of Computing and Information Science in Engineering
PublisherAmerican Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME)
ISSN15309827
Open AccessYes
Concepts (12)
  •  related image
    Algorithms
  •  related image
    Geometry
  •  related image
    Problem solving
  •  related image
    APPROXIMATION RESULTS
  •  related image
    Empirical analysis
  •  related image
    EXHAUSTIVE SEARCHING
  •  related image
    GREEDY HEURISTICS
  •  related image
    Optimal results
  •  related image
    RANDOMIZED APPROACH
  •  related image
    RANDOMIZED APPROXIMATION
  •  related image
    SURFACE LOFTING
  •  related image
    Approximation algorithms