An Electronic Primer on Geometric Constraint Solving

			William Bouma
			Xiangping Chen
			Ioannis Fudos
			Christoph Hoffmann
			Pamela J. Vermeer

Project Overview

Geometric constraint solving has applications in many different fields, such as molecular modeling, Computer-Aided Design, tolerance analysis, and geometric theorem proving. In this primer, a solution to the problem of finding a configuration for a set of geometric objects which satisfies a given set of constraints between the geometric elements is detailed. We have provided four different "tours" through the material in order to allow different types of users easy access to the information appropriate to their needs. None of these tours provides direct access to all the material individually, and all of the tours are interlinked. Of course, following any tour as given is neither necessary nor required. However, should you choose to follow a tour, the next page in the tour is always available by clicking on the icon corresponding to the tour at the bottom of the current page. The four tours and their corresponding icons are:

Overview Overview
The overview tour provides an introduction to geometric constraint solving, and particularly to our approach to constraint solving.

Tutorial Profile Editor Tutorial
This tutorial is a hands-on guide to using our two-dimensional constraint solver.

Theory Theoretical Foundations
The theoretical basis for our constraint solver is detailed in this document.

Implementation Implementation Issues
This tour presents the theoretical and technical aspects of our constraint solver which are necessary in order to be able to implement a constraint solver similar to ours.
References are found in the bibliography, arranged alphabetically by author.

Comments

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Acknowledgement

The first version of the constraint solver was implemented in collaboration with Jiazhen Cai and Robert Paige from New York University.

Sponsor

This project was supported by the Office of Naval Research under Research Contract N00014-90-J-1599