Local control of interval tension using weighted splines

Cubic spline interpolation and B-spline sums are useful and powerful tools in computer aided design. These are extended by weighted cubic splines which have tension controls that allow the user to tighten or loosen the curve on intervals between interpolation points. The weighted spline is a C¹ piecewise cubic that minimizes a variational problem similar to one that a C² cubic spline minimizes. A B-spline like basis is constructed for weighted splines where each basis function is nonnegative and nonzero only on four intervals. The basis functions sum up identically to one, thus curves generated by summing control points multiplied by the basis functions have the convex hull property. Different weights are built into the basis functions so that the control point curves are piecewise cubics with local control of interval tension. If all weights are equal, then the weighted spline is the C² cubic spline and the basis functions are B-splines.