Testing for Intersection of Convex Objects: The Method of Separating Axes
Dave H. Eberly · 2001
This document describes the method of separating axes, a method for determining whether or not two stationary convex objects are intersecting. The ideas can be extended to handle moving convex objects and are useful for predicting collisions of the objects and for computing the first time of contact. The current focus of this document is on the test intersection geometric query, a query that just indicates whether or not an intersection exists or will occur when the objects are moving. The problem of computing the set of intersection is denoted a find intersections geometric query and is generally more difficult to implement than the test intersection query. Information from the test query can help determine the contact set that the find query must construct. This document will describe in what way the test query information can be used.