Bounding Volume - Basic Intersection Checks

Basic Intersection Checks

For some types of bounding volume (OBB and convex polyhedra), an effective check is that of the separating axis theorem. The idea here is that, if there exists an axis by which the objects do not overlap, then the objects do not intersect. Usually the axes checked are those of the basic axes for the volumes (the unit axes in the case of an AABB, or the 3 base axes from each OBB in the case of OBBs). Often, this is followed by also checking the cross-products of the previous axes (one axis from each object).

In the case of an AABB, this tests becomes a simple set of overlap tests in terms of the unit axes. For an AABB defined by M,N against one defined by O,P they do not intersect if (M_x>P_x) or (O_x>N_x) or (M_y>P_y) or (O_y>N_y) or (M_z>P_z) or (O_z>N_z).

An AABB can also be projected along an axis, for example, if it has edges of length L and is centered at C, and is being projected along the axis N:
, and or, and where m and n are the minimum and maximum extents.

An OBB is similar in this respect, but is slightly more complicated. For an OBB with L and C as above, and with I, J, and K as the OBB's base axes, then:

For the ranges m,n and o,p it can be said that they do not intersect if m>p or o>n. Thus, by projecting the ranges of 2 OBBs along the I, J, and K axes of each OBB, and checking for non-intersection, it is possible to detect non-intersection. By additionally checking along the cross products of these axes (I₀×I₁, I₀×J₁, ...) one can be more certain that intersection is impossible.

This concept of determining non-intersection via use of axis projection also extends to convex polyhedra, however with the normals of each polyhedral face being used instead of the base axes, and with the extents being based on the minimum and maximum dot products of each vertex against the axes. Note that this description assumes the checks are being done in world space.