Computational Geometry
We consider the problem of using location queries to monitor the congestion potential among a collection of entities moving, with bounded speed but otherwise unpredictably, in $d$-dimensional Euclidean space. Uncertainty in entity locations…
We study the query version of the approximate heavy hitter and quantile problems. In the former problem, the input is a parameter $\varepsilon$ and a set $P$ of $n$ points in $\mathbb{R}^d$ where each point is assigned a color from a set…
In this paper, we consider a simple class of stratified spaces -- 2-complexes. We present an algorithm that learns the abstract structure of an embedded 2-complex from a point cloud sampled from it. We use tools and inspiration from…
Algorithmic self-assembly occurs when disorganized components autonomously combine to form structures and, by their design and the dynamics of the system, are forced to follow the execution of algorithms. Motivated by applications in…
We study the time complexity of the discrete $k$-center problem and related (exact) geometric set cover problems when $k$ or the size of the cover is small. We obtain a plethora of new results: - We give the first subquadratic algorithm for…
We consider a problem in computational origami. Given a piece of paper as a convex polygon $P$ and a point $f$ located within, fold every point on a boundary of $P$ to $f$ and compute a region that is safe from folding, i.e., the region…
We consider geometric collision-detection problems for modular reconfigurable robots. Assuming the nodes (modules) are connected squares on a grid, we investigate the complexity of deciding whether collisions may occur, or can be avoided,…
We propose $\kappa$-approximate nearest neighbor (ANN) data structures for $n$ polygonal curves under the Fr\'{e}chet distance in $\mathbb{R}^d$, where $\kappa \in \{1+\varepsilon,3+\varepsilon\}$ and $d \geq 2$. We assume that every input…
$\newcommand{\floor}[1]{\left\lfloor {#1} \right\rfloor} \renewcommand{\Re}{\mathbb{R}}$ Tverberg's theorem states that a set of $n$ points in $\Re^d$ can be partitioned into $\floor{n/(d+1)}$ sets with a common intersection. A point in…
An orthotube consists of orthogonal boxes (e.g., unit cubes) glued face-to-face to form a path. In 1998, Biedl et al. showed that every orthotube has a grid unfolding: a cutting along edges of the boxes so that the surface unfolds into a…
We consider the problem of deciding, given a sequence of regions, if there is a choice of points, one for each region, such that the induced polyline is simple or weakly simple, meaning that it can touch but not cross itself. Specifically,…
We study the Voronoi Diagram of Rotating Rays, a Voronoi structure where the input sites are rays and the distance function between a point and a site/ray, is the counterclockwise angular distance. This novel Voronoi diagram is motivated by…
We present an $O(nrG)$ time algorithm for computing and maintaining a minimum length shortest watchman tour that sees a simple polygon under monotone visibility in direction $\theta$, while $\theta$ varies in $[0,180^{\circ})$, obtaining…
We study a new model of 3-dimensional modular self-reconfigurable robots Rhombic Dodecahedral (RD). By extending results on the 2D analog of this model we characterize the free space requirements for a pivoting move and investigate the…
A closed-form solution for the boundary of the flat state of an orthogonal cross section of contiguous surface geometry formed by the intersection of two cylinders of equal radii oriented in dual directions of rotation about their…
Planar drawings of graphs tend to be favored over non-planar drawings. Testing planarity and creating a planar layout of a planar graph can be done in linear time. However, creating readable drawings of nearly planar graphs remains a…
Bipartite graphs model the relationships between two disjoint sets of entities in several applications and are naturally drawn as 2-layer graph drawings. In such drawings, the two sets of entities (vertices) are placed on two parallel lines…
While many graph drawing algorithms consider nodes as points, graph visualization tools often represent them as shapes. These shapes support the display of information such as labels or encode various data with size or color. However, they…
Dynamic Time Warping is arguably the most popular similarity measure for time series, where we define a time series to be a one-dimensional polygonal curve. The drawback of Dynamic Time Warping is that it is sensitive to the sampling rate…
A new heuristic for rectilinear crossing minimization is proposed. It is based on the idea of iteratively repositioning nodes after a first initial graph drawing. The new position of a node is computed by casting rays from the node towards…