Abstract: We present an incremental algorithm to estimate the penetration depth between convex polytopes in 3D. The algorithm incrementally seeks a "locally optimal solution" by walking on the surface of the Minkowski sums. The surface of the Minkowski sums is computed implicitly by constructing a local Gauss map. In practice, the algorithm works well when there is high motion coherence in the environment and is able to compute the optimal solution in most cases.

Young J. Kim