Distance of a circle to a line in 3d

Version 2.1.0.0 (3.55 KB) by Johannes Korsawe
Calculate the nearest points on a circle with respect to a line in 3d
1.0
(2)
73 Downloads
Updated 5 Sep 2023

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A line is defined by a point and a vector in 3d.
A circle is defined by a midpoint and a radius and the normal vector of the supporting plane, the circle lies inside.
This function calculates the nearest point (and the minimal distance) of a circle to a line in 3d.
Function is not vectorized, as too many special cases can occur.
I have not developed the algorithm itself. The algorithm has been originally implemented by David Eberly, Geometric Tools, Redmond WA 98052 !
Kudos also to Aaron T. Becker's Robot Swarm Lab's comments on an erroneous case.
See also: https://www.geometrictools.com/Documentation/DistanceToCircle3.pdf and https://www.geometrictools.com/GTE/Mathematics/DistLine3Circle3.h with only minor changes on variable names and calculations.

Cite As

Johannes Korsawe (2024). Distance of a circle to a line in 3d (https://www.mathworks.com/matlabcentral/fileexchange/59800-distance-of-a-circle-to-a-line-in-3d), MATLAB Central File Exchange. Retrieved .

MATLAB Release Compatibility
Created with R2022b
Compatible with any release
Platform Compatibility
Windows macOS Linux

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Version Published Release Notes
2.1.0.0

Fixed for erroneous case as suggested by Aaron T. Becker's Robot Swarm Lab
2.0.0.0

First version was generally wrong and correct only in special cases.
New version with total new algorithm derived from https://www.geometrictools.com/Documentation/DistanceToCircle3.pdf
1.0.0.0

edited title of submission