Inclusion test for free-form solids

In this paper, a new algorithm to study the fundamental inclusion test of points into free-form solids is presented. The test is performed exactly, efficiently and robustly because it does not require solving equation systems, it does not use trigonometric functions and it is not necessary to deal with complex special cases. The point inclusion algorithm is based on the decomposition of the solid into original tetrahedra and free form cells, and it reduces the test calculation to carrying out the test on these simple elements and merging the individual results by means of a simple sum. The solid boundary is defined as a set of low-degree algebraic patches. (C) 1999 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.