A software library for collision detection calculations.

Object motions in 3-space are a subject of frequent interest in investigations of robot performance or path planning. A common requirement of such motions is that collisions between objects must be avoided. This paper describes an algorithm and its software realization for detecting collisions between objects that are represented in computer simulations as convex polyhedra. It is applicable to simulations in which polyhedral models are used to represent physical objects. The paper also describes how the collision detection software is packaged in a library that can be used by a variety of modeling applications.