Shape Control and Modification of RationalCubic B-Spline Curves

This paper considers the construction of a rational cubic B-spline curve that willinterpolate a sequence of data points x'+ith specified tangent directions at those points. It is emphasisedthat the constraints are purely geometrical and that the pararnetric tangent magnitudes are notassigned as in many' curl'e manipulation methods. The knot vector is fixed and the unknowns are thecontrol points and x"eightsf in this respect the technique is fundamentally different from otherswhere knot insertion is allowed.First. the theoretical result3 for the uniform rational cubic B-spline are presented. Then. in theplanar case. the effect of changes to the tangent at a single point and the acceptable bounds for thechange are established so that all the weights and tangent magnitUdes remain positive. Finally, aninteractive procedure for controlling the shape of a planar rational cubic B-spline curve is presented.