Collision Detection

What Does Collision Detection Mean?

Collision detection algorithmically calculates impact time by identifying two or more object intersection points. Collision detection is also a virtual interface that determines user and object distance for collision prevention.

Collision detection is a key 3-D component associated with robotics, video games and physical simulation.

Techopedia Explains Collision Detection

Collision detection concepts are based on computational geometry and linear algebra and include the following methods:

Vector usage: Measures object distance and calculates length via the square root of each vector component’s square sum. Divides each vector component by vector magnitude, which equal a sum of 1.
Plane detection: Easily identifies 3-D sphere collisions, as individual comparison of complex model polygons is not required.

Physical simulators: Detects collision events before collision event (priori) and after collision event (posteriori).

Collision detection events are detected by network nodes and recovered via protocols like Carrier Sense Multiple Access/Collision Detection (CSMA/CD).