Geodesic curve computations on surfaces

A study on geodesic curves computed directly on NURBS surfaces and discrete geodesics computed on the equivalent tessellated surfaces has been presented. A new approach has been presented for the computation of discrete geodesics on tessellated surfaces. An available approach has been extended for the computation of geodesics on NURBS surfaces. The new approach for the computation of discrete geodesics takes into account the tessellation normal and compares better with the geodesic curves computed directly on the NURBS surface. Many geodesics computed using these approaches on both developable and non-developable surfaces and their equivalent tessellated surfaces have been presented. (C) 2003 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.