Approximation of NURBS Curves and Surfaces Using Adaptive Equidistant Parameterizations

Non-uniform rational B-spline (NURBS) curves and surfaces are very important tools for modelling curves and surfaces. Several important details, such as the choice of the sample points, of the parameterization, and of the termination condition, are however not well described. These details have a great influence on the performance of the approximation algorithm, both in terms of quality as well as time and space usage. This paper described how to sample points, examining two standard parameterizations: equidistant and chordal. A new and local parameterization, namely an adaptive equidistant model, was proposed, which enhances the equidistant model. Localization can also be used to enhance the chordal parameterization. For NURBS surfaces, one must choose which direction will be approximated first and must pay special attention to surfaces of degree 1 which have to be handled as a special case.