Determination of the Interference Distance Between Two Objects Using Optimization Techniques

Abstract

Abstract The determination of the interference distance between objects is a problem encountered in the off-line simulation of robotic systems. It is similar to the problem of finding the minimum separation distance between two bodies — a problem which, at present, is commonly solved using optimization techniques. This paper presents an analogous optimization formulation for the quick and accurate determination of the interference distance between two interfering objects. The optimization problem consists of finding the maximum amount by which the boundaries of two interfering object can be moved back while still maintaining a non-empty interference volume. Since the approach used is similar to that used in the minimum separation problem, a single algorithm has been implemented which, given the position and orientation of two objects, will return the separation or interference distance between the objects, as appropriate.