We present a data structure and an algorithm for efficient and exact interference detection amongst complex models undergoing rigid motion. The algorithm is applicable to all general polygonal models. It pre-computes a hierarchical representation of models using tight-fitting oriented bounding box trees (OBBTrees). At runtime, the algorithm traverses two such trees and tests for overlaps between oriented bounding boxes based on a separating axis theorem, which takes less than 200 operations in practice. It has been implemented and we compare its performance with other hierarchical data structures. In particular, it can robustly and accurately detect all the contacts between large complex geometries composed of hundreds of thousands of polygons at interactive rates.

: We present a data structure and an algorithm for efficient and exact interference detection amongst complex models undergoing rigid motion. The algorithm is applicable to all general polygonal models. It pre-computes a hierarchical representation of models using tight-fitting oriented bounding box trees (OBBTrees). At runtime, the algorithm traverses two such trees and tests for overlaps between oriented bounding boxes based on a separating axis theorem, which takes less than 200 operations in practice. It has been implemented and we compare its performance with other hierarchical data structures. In particular, it can robustly and accurately detect all the contacts between large complex geometries composed of hundreds of thousands of polygons at interactive rates. CR Categories and Subject Descriptors: I.3.5 [Computer Graphics]: Computational Geometry and Object Modeling Additional Key Words and Phrases: hierarchical data structure, collision detection, shape approximation, contac...