Fastest way to determine if a circle fully covers a rectangle

In summary, the algorithm looks for the point on the circle that is farthest away from the center of the circle, and then tests to see if the point is inside the circle.
  • #1
sciwizeh
25
0
As usual I'm working on a program and I'm having trouble with math/efficiency.

Homework Statement


I need a way to find out if a circle given as a point and a radius C(x,y,r) fully encloses a rectangle given by the top left corner and the width and height R(x,y,w,h)

I only need to know IF it fully covers the rectangle and not any of the areas.





2. The attempt at a solution
The only solution I can think of is simple but not fast:
1) get all points of the rectangle (xi,yi) i from 1-4
2) for every i check if (cx-xi)2+(cy-xi)2 <= cr2
3) if any of the checks in 2 are false it is not covered by the circle otherwise it does

I am sure that this solution will work, but I'm hoping there may be a faster way to do it. Is this the best (most efficient) solution or is there a better one?
 
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  • #2
ehild said:
You get the centre of the circle from the (xi,yi) vertices of the rectangle, and the radius of the circle from the diagonal of the rectangle. (See picture.)

ehild

I think you misunderstood the question. I attached a picture to make it clear, I need to know which rectangles are enclosed by the circle, in the image C and D. I'm trying to find faster way than checking if all four points are in the circle to determine if the rectangle is.
 

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  • #3
sciwizeh said:
2. The attempt at a solution
The only solution I can think of is simple but not fast:
1) get all points of the rectangle (xi,yi) i from 1-4
2) for every i check if (cx-xi)2+(cy-xi)2 <= cr2
3) if any of the checks in 2 are false it is not covered by the circle otherwise it does

I am sure that this solution will work, but I'm hoping there may be a faster way to do it. Is this the best (most efficient) solution or is there a better one?

I think that's about as "efficient" in simplicity of algorithm as you can make it.

If you know more information, you may be able to make it more computationally efficient. For example, if the circle is relatively small compared to the domain and you have many rectangles to check, it might work out to be faster to find the maximum x, y coordinates of the circle (essentially, approximate the circle with a square) and reject rectangles whose origin point is outside those bounds (you might even check all four points in this way).
 
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  • #4
olivermsun said:
I think that's about as "efficient" in simplicity of algorithm as you can make it.

If you know more information, you may be able to make it more computationally efficient. For example, if the circle is relatively small compared to the domain and you have many rectangles to check, it might work out to be faster to find the maximum x, y coordinates of the circle (essentially, approximate the circle with a square) and reject rectangles whose origin point is outside those bounds (you might even check all four points in this way).

Thanks for the advice, perhaps more information could help.

I'm building a region quad-tree based image like the one in http://donar.umiacs.umd.edu/quadtree/regions/regionquad.html" . I have generalized it slightly, and I want to add a circle drawing function.

I'm just trying to figure out a good algorithm to use to draw a circle into a quad-tree image, and checking if the current node is covered by the circle is a key component and I wanted to make sure it was as fast as i could get it.

I tend to oversimplify the problem I'm having when asking questions on forums.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
  • #5
1.
Find the farthest point on the rectangle from the circle center point.
It's quite easy because the rectangle is axis-parallel.

2.
Test the point in the circle.

Code:
double xFarthest;
if abs(center.x - rect.left) < abs(center.x - rect.right)
   xFarthest = rect.right;
else
   xFarthest = rect.left;

double yFarthest;
if abs(center.y - rect.bottom) < abs(center.y - rect.top)
   yFarthest = rect.top;
else
   yFarthest = rect.bottom;

double dx = center.x - xFarthest;
double dy = center.y - yFarthest;
return ((dx * dx - dy * dy) <= r * r);

I don't know this method is faster.
But if abs function is faster than multiplication operator, it could be faster.
 
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Related to Fastest way to determine if a circle fully covers a rectangle

What is the definition of "fully covers" in this context?

In this context, "fully covers" means that the entire perimeter of the rectangle is contained within the circumference of the circle.

Can I use any type of circle and rectangle for this determination?

Yes, any type of circle and rectangle can be used as long as they have a defined center point and dimensions.

What is the mathematical formula for determining if a circle fully covers a rectangle?

The formula is: (distance between the center points of the circle and rectangle + the radius of the circle) is less than or equal to (half of the length of the rectangle + half of the width of the rectangle).

Is there a faster way to determine this without using the mathematical formula?

Yes, you can also visually compare the dimensions of the circle and rectangle. If the circle is significantly larger than the rectangle and its center point is within the rectangle, then the circle fully covers the rectangle.

Are there any limitations to using this method for determining if a circle fully covers a rectangle?

Yes, this method may not work if the circle and rectangle have irregular shapes or if the rectangle is larger than the circle. In these cases, the mathematical formula should be used for a more accurate determination.

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