Circle line-segment collision detection algorithm?

Question

I have a line from A to B and a circle positioned at C with the radius R.

What is a good algorithm to use to check whether the line intersects the circle? And at what coordinate along the circles edge it occurred?

Answer 1

I would use the algorithm to compute the distance between a point (circle center) and a line (line AB). This can then be used to determine the intersection points of the line with the circle.

Let say we have the points A, B, C. Ax and Ay are the x and y components of the A points. Same for B and C. The scalar R is the circle radius.

This algorithm requires that A, B and C are distinct points and that R is not 0.

Here is the algorithm

// compute the euclidean distance between A and B
LAB = sqrt( (Bx-Ax)²+(By-Ay)² )

// compute the direction vector D from A to B
Dx = (Bx-Ax)/LAB
Dy = (By-Ay)/LAB

// the equation of the line AB is x = Dx*t + Ax, y = Dy*t + Ay with 0 <= t <= LAB.

// compute the distance between the points A and E, where
// E is the point of AB closest the circle center (Cx, Cy)
t = Dx*(Cx-Ax) + Dy*(Cy-Ay)    

// compute the coordinates of the point E
Ex = t*Dx+Ax
Ey = t*Dy+Ay

// compute the euclidean distance between E and C
LEC = sqrt((Ex-Cx)²+(Ey-Cy)²)

// test if the line intersects the circle
if( LEC < R )
{
    // compute distance from t to circle intersection point
    dt = sqrt( R² - LEC²)

    // compute first intersection point
    Fx = (t-dt)*Dx + Ax
    Fy = (t-dt)*Dy + Ay

    // compute second intersection point
    Gx = (t+dt)*Dx + Ax
    Gy = (t+dt)*Dy + Ay
}

// else test if the line is tangent to circle
else if( LEC == R )
    // tangent point to circle is E

else
    // line doesn't touch circle

Answer 2

Here's an implementation in Javascript. My approach is to first convert the line segment into an infinite line then find the intersection point(s). From there I check if the point(s) found are on the line segment. The code is well documented, you should be able to follow along.

You can try out the code here on this live demo. The code was taken from my algorithms repo.

// Small epsilon value
var EPS = 0.0000001;

// point (x, y)
function Point(x, y) {
  this.x = x;
  this.y = y;
}

// Circle with center at (x,y) and radius r
function Circle(x, y, r) {
  this.x = x;
  this.y = y;
  this.r = r;
}

// A line segment (x1, y1), (x2, y2)
function LineSegment(x1, y1, x2, y2) {
  var d = Math.sqrt( (x1-x2)*(x1-x2) + (y1-y2)*(y1-y2) );
  if (d < EPS) throw 'A point is not a line segment';
  this.x1 = x1; this.y1 = y1;
  this.x2 = x2; this.y2 = y2;
}

// An infinite line defined as: ax + by = c
function Line(a, b, c) {
  this.a = a; this.b = b; this.c = c;
  // Normalize line for good measure
  if (Math.abs(b) < EPS) {
    c /= a; a = 1; b = 0;
  } else { 
    a = (Math.abs(a) < EPS) ? 0 : a / b;
    c /= b; b = 1; 
  }
}

// Given a line in standard form: ax + by = c and a circle with 
// a center at (x,y) with radius r this method finds the intersection
// of the line and the circle (if any). 
function circleLineIntersection(circle, line) {

  var a = line.a, b = line.b, c = line.c;
  var x = circle.x, y = circle.y, r = circle.r;

  // Solve for the variable x with the formulas: ax + by = c (equation of line)
  // and (x-X)^2 + (y-Y)^2 = r^2 (equation of circle where X,Y are known) and expand to obtain quadratic:
  // (a^2 + b^2)x^2 + (2abY - 2ac + - 2b^2X)x + (b^2X^2 + b^2Y^2 - 2bcY + c^2 - b^2r^2) = 0
  // Then use quadratic formula X = (-b +- sqrt(a^2 - 4ac))/2a to find the 
  // roots of the equation (if they exist) and this will tell us the intersection points

  // In general a quadratic is written as: Ax^2 + Bx + C = 0
  // (a^2 + b^2)x^2 + (2abY - 2ac + - 2b^2X)x + (b^2X^2 + b^2Y^2 - 2bcY + c^2 - b^2r^2) = 0
  var A = a*a + b*b;
  var B = 2*a*b*y - 2*a*c - 2*b*b*x;
  var C = b*b*x*x + b*b*y*y - 2*b*c*y + c*c - b*b*r*r;

  // Use quadratic formula x = (-b +- sqrt(a^2 - 4ac))/2a to find the 
  // roots of the equation (if they exist).

  var D = B*B - 4*A*C;
  var x1,y1,x2,y2;

  // Handle vertical line case with b = 0
  if (Math.abs(b) < EPS) {

    // Line equation is ax + by = c, but b = 0, so x = c/a
    x1 = c/a;

    // No intersection
    if (Math.abs(x-x1) > r) return [];

    // Vertical line is tangent to circle
    if (Math.abs((x1-r)-x) < EPS || Math.abs((x1+r)-x) < EPS)
      return [new Point(x1, y)];

    var dx = Math.abs(x1 - x);
    var dy = Math.sqrt(r*r-dx*dx);

    // Vertical line cuts through circle
    return [
      new Point(x1,y+dy),
      new Point(x1,y-dy)
    ];

  // Line is tangent to circle
  } else if (Math.abs(D) < EPS) {

    x1 = -B/(2*A);
    y1 = (c - a*x1)/b;

    return [new Point(x1,y1)];

  // No intersection
  } else if (D < 0) {

    return [];

  } else {

    D = Math.sqrt(D);

    x1 = (-B+D)/(2*A);
    y1 = (c - a*x1)/b;

    x2 = (-B-D)/(2*A);
    y2 = (c - a*x2)/b;

    return [
      new Point(x1, y1),
      new Point(x2, y2)
    ];

  }

}

// Converts a line segment to a line in general form
function segmentToGeneralForm(x1,y1,x2,y2) {
  var a = y1 - y2;
  var b = x2 - x1;
  var c = x2*y1 - x1*y2;
  return new Line(a,b,c);
}

// Checks if a point 'pt' is inside the rect defined by (x1,y1), (x2,y2)
function pointInRectangle(pt,x1,y1,x2,y2) {
  var x = Math.min(x1,x2), X = Math.max(x1,x2);
  var y = Math.min(y1,y2), Y = Math.max(y1,y2);
  return x - EPS <= pt.x && pt.x <= X + EPS &&
         y - EPS <= pt.y && pt.y <= Y + EPS;
}

// Finds the intersection(s) of a line segment and a circle
function lineSegmentCircleIntersection(segment, circle) {

  var x1 = segment.x1, y1 = segment.y1, x2 = segment.x2, y2 = segment.y2;
  var line = segmentToGeneralForm(x1,y1,x2,y2);
  var pts = circleLineIntersection(circle, line);

  // No intersection
  if (pts.length === 0) return [];

  var pt1 = pts[0];
  var includePt1 = pointInRectangle(pt1,x1,y1,x2,y2);

  // Check for unique intersection
  if (pts.length === 1) {
    if (includePt1) return [pt1];
    return [];
  }

  var pt2 = pts[1];
  var includePt2 = pointInRectangle(pt2,x1,y1,x2,y2);

  // Check for remaining intersections
  if (includePt1 && includePt2) return [pt1, pt2];
  if (includePt1) return [pt1];
  if (includePt2) return [pt2];
  return [];

}

Answer 3

If the line's coordinates are A.x, A.y and B.x, B.y and the circles center is C.x, C.y then the lines formulae are:

x = A.x * t + B.x * (1 - t)

y = A.y * t + B.y * (1 - t)

where 0<=t<=1

and the circle is

(C.x - x)^2 + (C.y - y)^2 = R^2

if you substitute x and y formulae of the line into the circles formula you get a second order equation of t and its solutions are the intersection points (if there are any). If you get a t which is smaller than 0 or greater than 1 then its not a solution but it shows that the line is 'pointing' to the direction of the circle.

Answer 4

Here is a solution written in golang. The method is similar to some other answers posted here, but not quite the same. It is easy to implement, and has been tested. Here are the steps:

1. Translate coordinates so that the circle is at the origin.
2. Express the line segment as parametrized functions of t for both the x and y coordinates. If t is 0, the function's values are one end point of the segment, and if t is 1, the function's values are the other end point.
3. Solve, if possible, the quadratic equation resulting from constraining values of t that produce x, y coordinates with distances from the origin equal to the circle's radius.
4. Throw out solutions where t is < 0 or > 1 ( <= 0 or >= 1 for an open segment). Those points are not contained in the segment.
5. Translate back to original coordinates.

The values for A, B, and C for the quadratic are derived here, where (n-et) and (m-dt) are the equations for the line's x and y coordinates, respectively. r is the radius of the circle.

(n-et)(n-et) + (m-dt)(m-dt) = rr
nn - 2etn + etet + mm - 2mdt + dtdt = rr
(ee+dd)tt - 2(en + dm)t + nn + mm - rr = 0

Therefore A = ee+dd, B = - 2(en + dm), and C = nn + mm - rr.

Here is the golang code for the function:

package geom

import (
    "math"
)

// SegmentCircleIntersection return points of intersection between a circle and
// a line segment. The Boolean intersects returns true if one or
// more solutions exist. If only one solution exists, 
// x1 == x2 and y1 == y2.
// s1x and s1y are coordinates for one end point of the segment, and
// s2x and s2y are coordinates for the other end of the segment.
// cx and cy are the coordinates of the center of the circle and
// r is the radius of the circle.
func SegmentCircleIntersection(s1x, s1y, s2x, s2y, cx, cy, r float64) (x1, y1, x2, y2 float64, intersects bool) {
    // (n-et) and (m-dt) are expressions for the x and y coordinates
    // of a parameterized line in coordinates whose origin is the
    // center of the circle.
    // When t = 0, (n-et) == s1x - cx and (m-dt) == s1y - cy
    // When t = 1, (n-et) == s2x - cx and (m-dt) == s2y - cy.
    n := s2x - cx
    m := s2y - cy

    e := s2x - s1x
    d := s2y - s1y

    // lineFunc checks if the  t parameter is in the segment and if so
    // calculates the line point in the unshifted coordinates (adds back
    // cx and cy.
    lineFunc := func(t float64) (x, y float64, inBounds bool) {
        inBounds = t >= 0 && t <= 1 // Check bounds on closed segment
        // To check bounds for an open segment use t > 0 && t < 1
        if inBounds { // Calc coords for point in segment
            x = n - e*t + cx
            y = m - d*t + cy
        }
        return
    }

    // Since we want the points on the line distance r from the origin,
    // (n-et)(n-et) + (m-dt)(m-dt) = rr.
    // Expanding and collecting terms yeilds the following quadratic equation:
    A, B, C := e*e+d*d, -2*(e*n+m*d), n*n+m*m-r*r

    D := B*B - 4*A*C // discriminant of quadratic
    if D < 0 {
        return // No solution
    }
    D = math.Sqrt(D)

    var p1In, p2In bool
    x1, y1, p1In = lineFunc((-B + D) / (2 * A)) // First root
    if D == 0.0 {
        intersects = p1In
        x2, y2 = x1, y1
        return // Only possible solution, quadratic has one root.
    }

    x2, y2, p2In = lineFunc((-B - D) / (2 * A)) // Second root

    intersects = p1In || p2In
    if p1In == false { // Only x2, y2 may be valid solutions
        x1, y1 = x2, y2
    } else if p2In == false { // Only x1, y1 are valid solutions
        x2, y2 = x1, y1
    }
    return
}

I tested it with this function, which confirms that solution points are within the line segment and on the circle. It makes a test segment and sweeps it around the given circle:

package geom_test

import (
    "testing"

    . "**put your package path here**"
)

func CheckEpsilon(t *testing.T, v, epsilon float64, message string) {
    if v > epsilon || v < -epsilon {
        t.Error(message, v, epsilon)
        t.FailNow()
    }
}

func TestSegmentCircleIntersection(t *testing.T) {
    epsilon := 1e-10      // Something smallish
    x1, y1 := 5.0, 2.0    // segment end point 1
    x2, y2 := 50.0, 30.0  // segment end point 2
    cx, cy := 100.0, 90.0 // center of circle
    r := 80.0

    segx, segy := x2-x1, y2-y1

    testCntr, solutionCntr := 0, 0

    for i := -100; i < 100; i++ {
        for j := -100; j < 100; j++ {
            testCntr++
            s1x, s2x := x1+float64(i), x2+float64(i)
            s1y, s2y := y1+float64(j), y2+float64(j)

            sc1x, sc1y := s1x-cx, s1y-cy
            seg1Inside := sc1x*sc1x+sc1y*sc1y < r*r
            sc2x, sc2y := s2x-cx, s2y-cy
            seg2Inside := sc2x*sc2x+sc2y*sc2y < r*r

            p1x, p1y, p2x, p2y, intersects := SegmentCircleIntersection(s1x, s1y, s2x, s2y, cx, cy, r)

            if intersects {
                solutionCntr++
                //Check if points are on circle
                c1x, c1y := p1x-cx, p1y-cy
                deltaLen1 := (c1x*c1x + c1y*c1y) - r*r
                CheckEpsilon(t, deltaLen1, epsilon, "p1 not on circle")

                c2x, c2y := p2x-cx, p2y-cy
                deltaLen2 := (c2x*c2x + c2y*c2y) - r*r
                CheckEpsilon(t, deltaLen2, epsilon, "p2 not on circle")

                // Check if points are on the line through the line segment
                // "cross product" of vector from a segment point to the point
                // and the vector for the segment should be near zero
                vp1x, vp1y := p1x-s1x, p1y-s1y
                crossProd1 := vp1x*segy - vp1y*segx
                CheckEpsilon(t, crossProd1, epsilon, "p1 not on line ")

                vp2x, vp2y := p2x-s1x, p2y-s1y
                crossProd2 := vp2x*segy - vp2y*segx
                CheckEpsilon(t, crossProd2, epsilon, "p2 not on line ")

                // Check if point is between points s1 and s2 on line
                // This means the sign of the dot prod of the segment vector
                // and point to segment end point vectors are opposite for
                // either end.
                wp1x, wp1y := p1x-s2x, p1y-s2y
                dp1v := vp1x*segx + vp1y*segy
                dp1w := wp1x*segx + wp1y*segy
                if (dp1v < 0 && dp1w < 0) || (dp1v > 0 && dp1w > 0) {
                    t.Error("point not contained in segment ", dp1v, dp1w)
                    t.FailNow()
                }

                wp2x, wp2y := p2x-s2x, p2y-s2y
                dp2v := vp2x*segx + vp2y*segy
                dp2w := wp2x*segx + wp2y*segy
                if (dp2v < 0 && dp2w < 0) || (dp2v > 0 && dp2w > 0) {
                    t.Error("point not contained in segment ", dp2v, dp2w)
                    t.FailNow()
                }

                if s1x == s2x && s2y == s1y { //Only one solution
                    // Test that one end of the segment is withing the radius of the circle
                    // and one is not
                    if seg1Inside && seg2Inside {
                        t.Error("Only one solution but both line segment ends inside")
                        t.FailNow()
                    }
                    if !seg1Inside && !seg2Inside {
                        t.Error("Only one solution but both line segment ends outside")
                        t.FailNow()
                    }

                }
            } else { // No intersection, check if both points outside or inside
                if (seg1Inside && !seg2Inside) || (!seg1Inside && seg2Inside) {
                    t.Error("No solution but only one point in radius of circle")
                    t.FailNow()
                }
            }
        }
    }
    t.Log("Tested ", testCntr, " examples and found ", solutionCntr, " solutions.")
}

Here is the output of the test:

=== RUN   TestSegmentCircleIntersection
--- PASS: TestSegmentCircleIntersection (0.00s)
    geom_test.go:105: Tested  40000  examples and found  7343  solutions.

Finally, the method is easily extendable to the case of a ray starting at one point, going through the other and extending to infinity, by only testing if t > 0 or t < 1 but not both.

Answer 5

I just needed that, so I came up with this solution. The language is maxscript, but it should be easily translated to any other language. sideA, sideB and CircleRadius are scalars, the rest of the variables are points as [x,y,z]. I'm assuming z=0 to solve on the plane XY

fn projectPoint p1 p2 p3 = --project  p1 perpendicular to the line p2-p3
(
    local v= normalize (p3-p2)
    local p= (p1-p2)
    p2+((dot v p)*v)
)
fn findIntersectionLineCircle CircleCenter CircleRadius LineP1 LineP2=
(
    pp=projectPoint CircleCenter LineP1 LineP2
    sideA=distance pp CircleCenter
    --use pythagoras to solve the third side
    sideB=sqrt(CircleRadius^2-sideA^2) -- this will return NaN if they don't intersect
    IntersectV=normalize (pp-CircleCenter)
    perpV=[IntersectV.y,-IntersectV.x,IntersectV.z]
    --project the point to both sides to find the solutions
    solution1=pp+(sideB*perpV)
    solution2=pp-(sideB*perpV)
    return #(solution1,solution2)
)

Answer 6

Circle is really a bad guy :) So a good way is to avoid true circle, if you can. If you are doing collision check for games you can go with some simplifications and have just 3 dot products, and a few comparisons.

I call this "fat point" or "thin circle". its kind of a ellipse with zero radius in a direction parallel to a segment. but full radius in a direction perpendicular to a segment

First, i would consider renaming and switching coordinate system to avoid excessive data:

s0s1 = B-A;
s0qp = C-A;
rSqr = r*r;

Second, index h in hvec2f means than vector must favor horisontal operations, like dot()/det(). Which means its components are to be placed in a separate xmm registers, to avoid shuffling/hadd'ing/hsub'ing. And here we go, with most performant version of simpliest collision detection for 2D game:

bool fat_point_collides_segment(const hvec2f& s0qp, const hvec2f& s0s1, const float& rSqr) {
    auto a = dot(s0s1, s0s1);
    //if( a != 0 ) // if you haven't zero-length segments omit this, as it would save you 1 _mm_comineq_ss() instruction and 1 memory fetch
    {
        auto b = dot(s0s1, s0qp);
        auto t = b / a; // length of projection of s0qp onto s0s1
        //std::cout << "t = " << t << "\n";
        if ((t >= 0) && (t <= 1)) // 
        {
            auto c = dot(s0qp, s0qp);
            auto r2 = c - a * t * t;
            return (r2 <= rSqr); // true if collides
        }
    }   
    return false;
}

I doubt you can optimize it any further. I am using it for neural-network driven car racing collision detection, to process millions of millions iteration steps.