SRL::Math::Types::Sphere Class Reference

Detailed Description

High-performance sphere primitive for collision detection and bounding volume applications.

The Sphere class represents a perfect mathematical sphere in 3D space, defined by a center point and radius. It provides optimized intersection tests with various geometric primitives and serves as an efficient bounding volume for complex objects.

Key features:

• Memory-efficient representation (center point + radius)
• Constant-time intersection tests with common primitives
• Fixed-point arithmetic for consistent behavior across platforms
• Inheritance from Shape for polymorphic usage in collision systems

Performance characteristics:

• Sphere-sphere tests: O(1) complexity, very fast
• Sphere-AABB tests: O(1) complexity, slightly more expensive than sphere-sphere
• Sphere-plane tests: O(1) complexity, very fast
• Sphere-point tests: O(1) complexity, extremely fast

Common applications:

• Bounding volume for complex meshes
• Collision detection in physics simulations
• Level-of-detail calculations
• Spatial partitioning acceleration structures
• Fast rejection tests in ray tracing

Implementation notes:

• All intersection tests use squared distances where possible to avoid expensive square root operations
• The radius is stored as a fixed-point value for consistent precision
• Inheritance from Shape allows polymorphic usage in collision systems

Note

When using spheres as bounding volumes for complex objects, consider the trade-off between tightness of fit and computational efficiency. Spheres provide the fastest intersection tests but may not approximate elongated objects as well as other bounding volumes like AABBs or OBBs.

See also

AABB For axis-aligned bounding box alternative

Shape For the base class interface

Plane For plane intersection tests

#include <sphere.hpp>

Inheritance diagram for SRL::Math::Types::Sphere:

Public Member Functions
constexpr	Sphere (const Vector3D &center, const Fxp &radius)
	Creates sphere from center and radius.
bool	Contains (const Vector3D &point) const
	Tests if a point is inside the sphere.
constexpr AABB	GetBoundingBox () const
	Calculates bounding box containing sphere.
constexpr Vector3D	GetPosition () const
	Gets shape center position.
constexpr Fxp	GetRadius () const
	Gets sphere radius.
template<Precision P = Precision::Default>
bool	Intersects (const AABB &box) const
	Tests intersection with AABB.
bool	Intersects (const Plane &plane) const override
	Tests intersection with plane.
bool	Intersects (const Sphere &other) const
	Tests intersection with another sphere.
constexpr void	SetPosition (const Vector3D &pos)
	Sets shape center position.

Protected Attributes
Vector3D	position