Construction of $G^2$ planar Hermite interpolants with prescribed arc lengths

Abstract

In this paper we address the problem of constructing $G^2$ planar Pythagorean--hodograph (PH) spline curves, that interpolate points, tangent directions and curvatures, and have prescribed arc-length. The interpolation scheme is completely local. Each spline segment is defined as a PH biarc curve of degree $7$, which results in having a closed form solution of the $G^2$ interpolation equations depending on four free parameters. By fixing two of them to zero, it is proven that the length constraint can be satisfied for any data and any chosen ratio between the two boundary tangents. Length interpolation equation reduces to one algebraic equation with four solutions in general. To select the best one, the value of the bending energy is observed. Several numerical examples are provided to illustrate the obtained theoretical results and to numerically confirm that the approximation order is $5$.