CONSTRUCTING THE CONVEX HULL OF A SET OF POINTS IN THE PLANE.

Abstract

A highly efficient algorithm for computing the vertices of the convex hull of a set of points in the plane is described and compared with existing methods. Empirical timings of a FORTRAN implementation of the algorithm show it to be faster than previous methods for most configurations of points. Careful consideration is given throughout to ensure that degenerate configurations, containing collinear or near-collinear points, are handled correctly.