How to determine if a list of polygon points are i

Question

Having a list of points, how do I find if they are in clockwise order?

For example:

point[0] = (5,0)
point[1] = (6,4)
point[2] = (4,5)
point[3] = (1,5)
point[4] = (1,0)

would say that it is anti-clockwise (or counter-clockwise, for some people).

Answer 1

Here's swift 3.0 solution based on answers above:

    for (i, point) in allPoints.enumerated() {
        let nextPoint = i == allPoints.count - 1 ? allPoints[0] : allPoints[i+1]
        signedArea += (point.x * nextPoint.y - nextPoint.x * point.y)
    }

    let clockwise  = signedArea < 0

Answer 2

find the center of mass of these points.

suppose there are lines from this point to your points.

find the angle between two lines for line0 line1

than do it for line1 and line2

...

...

if this angle is monotonically increasing than it is counterclockwise ,

else if monotonically decreasing it is clockwise

else (it is not monotonical)

you cant decide, so it is not wise

Answer 3

C# code to implement lhf's answer:

// https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Curve_orientation#Orientation_of_a_simple_polygon
public static WindingOrder DetermineWindingOrder(IList<Vector2> vertices)
{
    int nVerts = vertices.Count;
    // If vertices duplicates first as last to represent closed polygon,
    // skip last.
    Vector2 lastV = vertices[nVerts - 1];
    if (lastV.Equals(vertices[0]))
        nVerts -= 1;
    int iMinVertex = FindCornerVertex(vertices);
    // Orientation matrix:
    //     [ 1  xa  ya ]
    // O = | 1  xb  yb |
    //     [ 1  xc  yc ]
    Vector2 a = vertices[WrapAt(iMinVertex - 1, nVerts)];
    Vector2 b = vertices[iMinVertex];
    Vector2 c = vertices[WrapAt(iMinVertex + 1, nVerts)];
    // determinant(O) = (xb*yc + xa*yb + ya*xc) - (ya*xb + yb*xc + xa*yc)
    double detOrient = (b.X * c.Y + a.X * b.Y + a.Y * c.X) - (a.Y * b.X + b.Y * c.X + a.X * c.Y);

    // TBD: check for "==0", in which case is not defined?
    // Can that happen?  Do we need to check other vertices / eliminate duplicate vertices?
    WindingOrder result = detOrient > 0
            ? WindingOrder.Clockwise
            : WindingOrder.CounterClockwise;
    return result;
}

public enum WindingOrder
{
    Clockwise,
    CounterClockwise
}

// Find vertex along one edge of bounding box.
// In this case, we find smallest y; in case of tie also smallest x.
private static int FindCornerVertex(IList<Vector2> vertices)
{
    int iMinVertex = -1;
    float minY = float.MaxValue;
    float minXAtMinY = float.MaxValue;
    for (int i = 0; i < vertices.Count; i++)
    {
        Vector2 vert = vertices[i];
        float y = vert.Y;
        if (y > minY)
            continue;
        if (y == minY)
            if (vert.X >= minXAtMinY)
                continue;

        // Minimum so far.
        iMinVertex = i;
        minY = y;
        minXAtMinY = vert.X;
    }

    return iMinVertex;
}

// Return value in (0..n-1).
// Works for i in (-n..+infinity).
// If need to allow more negative values, need more complex formula.
private static int WrapAt(int i, int n)
{
    // "+n": Moves (-n..) up to (0..).
    return (i + n) % n;
}

Answer 4

An implementation of Sean's answer in JavaScript:

function calcArea(poly) {
    if(!poly || poly.length < 3) return null;
    let end = poly.length - 1;
    let sum = poly[end][0]*poly[0][1] - poly[0][0]*poly[end][1];
    for(let i=0; i<end; ++i) {
        const n=i+1;
        sum += poly[i][0]*poly[n][1] - poly[n][0]*poly[i][1];
    }
    return sum;
}

function isClockwise(poly) {
    return calcArea(poly) > 0;
}

let poly = [[352,168],[305,208],[312,256],[366,287],[434,248],[416,186]];

console.log(isClockwise(poly));

let poly2 = [[618,186],[650,170],[701,179],[716,207],[708,247],[666,259],[637,246],[615,219]];

console.log(isClockwise(poly2));

Pretty sure this is right. It seems to be working :-)

Those polygons look like this, if you're wondering: