MinkowskiDiff

The Clipper Library

MinkowskiDiff

Del.» function MinkowskiDiff(const Poly1: TPath; const Poly2: TPath): TPaths;

C++ » void MinkowskiDiff(const Path& poly1, const Path& poly2, Paths& solution);

C#  » public static Paths MinkowskiDiff(Path poly1, Path poly2);

Minkowski Difference is performed by subtracting each point in a polygon from the set of points in an open or closed path. A key feature of Minkowski Difference is that when it's applied to two polygons, the resulting polygon will contain the coordinate space origin whenever the two polygons touch or overlap. (This function is often used to determine when polygons collide.)

In the image on the left the blue polygon is the 'minkowski difference' of the two red boxes. The black dot represents the coordinate space origin.

See Also

MinkowskiSum, Path