INDIAN INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY ROORKEE

CSN-523: Computational Geometry

Lecture 12: Polygon Triangulation

Dr. Sudip Roy

Assistant Professor
Department of Computer Science & Engineering
Piazza Class Room: https://piazza.com/iitr.ac.in/spring2017/csn523/home
Moodle Site: http://moodle.iitr.ac.in/course/view.php?id=23 [Enrollment Key: csn523@2017]
Triangulation of a Polygon:

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Existence of a Triangulation:

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Triangulating a Polygon:

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Triangulating a Polygon:

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Triangulation:

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Triangulating a Polygon:

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Triangulating a Polygon:

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Triangulating a Polygon:

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Triangulating a Polygon:

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Triangulating a Polygon:

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Triangulating a Polygon:

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Triangulating a Polygon:

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Triangulating a Polygon:

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Triangulating a Polygon:

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Triangulating a Polygon:

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Triangulating a Polygon:

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Existence of a Triangulation:

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Triangulation Theory:

Lemma 1.2.1: Every polygon must have at least one strictly convex vertex.

Lemma 1.2.2: Every polygon of n >= 4 vertices has a diagonal.

Theorem 1.2.3 (Triangulation): Every polygon P of n vertices may be partitioned

into triangles by the addition of (zero or more) diagonals.

Lemma 1.2.4 (Number of Diagonals): Every triangulation of a polygon P of n

vertices uses (n-3) diagonals and consists of (n-2) triangles.

Corollary 1.2.5 (Sum of Angles): The sum of the internal angles of a polygon of
n vertices is (n-2).

Lemma 1.2.6: The dual T of a triangulation is a tree, with each node of degree at
most three.

Theorem 1.2.8 (3-coloring): The triangulation graph of a polygon P may be 3-

colored.

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Triangulation Theory:

Three consecutive vertices v1, v2, v3 form an ear of a polygon P at v2, if the
segment v1v3 is completely interior to P.

Two ears are non-overlapping, if the triangle interiors are disjoint.

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Triangulation Theory:

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Triangulating a Polygon: Diagonal-Based Algorithm

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Triangulating a Polygon: Ear-Removal Algorithm

n edges

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Triangulating a Polygon: Ear-Removal Algorithm

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Triangulating a Polygon: Ear-Removal Algorithm

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Triangulating a Polygon: Ear-Removal Algorithm

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