Index of Functions: A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X
Index Page pl2nvc_c

Table of contents

Procedure Abstract Required_Reading Keywords Brief_I/O Detailed_Input | Detailed_Output Parameters Exceptions Files Particulars Examples | Restrictions Literature_References Author_and_Institution Version Index_Entries

#### Procedure

       pl2nvc_c ( Plane to normal vector and constant )

       void pl2nvc_c ( ConstSpicePlane   * plane,
                       SpiceDouble         normal[3],
                       SpiceDouble       * konst     )

#### Abstract

       Return a unit normal vector and constant that define a specified
       plane.

#### Required_Reading

       PLANES

#### Keywords

       GEOMETRY
       MATH
       PLANE

#### Brief_I/O

       VARIABLE  I/O  DESCRIPTION
       --------  ---  --------------------------------------------------
       plane      I   A SPICE plane.
       normal,
       konst      O   A normal vector and constant defining the
                      geometric plane represented by `plane'.

#### Detailed_Input

       plane       is a SPICE plane.

#### Detailed_Output

       normal,
       konst       are, respectively, a unit normal vector and
                   constant that define the geometric plane
                   represented by `plane'. Let the symbol < a, b >
                   indicate the inner product of vectors `a' and `b';
                   then the geometric plane is the set of vectors `x'
                   in three-dimensional space that satisfy

                      < x,  normal >  =  konst.

                   `normal' is a unit vector. `konst' is the distance of
                   the plane from the origin;

                      konst * normal

                   is the closest point in the plane to the origin.

#### Parameters

       None.

#### Exceptions

       Error free.

       1)  The input plane MUST have been created by one of the CSPICE
           routines

              nvc2pl_c ( Normal vector and constant to plane )
              nvp2pl_c ( Normal vector and point to plane    )
              psv2pl_c ( Point and spanning vectors to plane )

           Otherwise, the results of this routine are unpredictable.

#### Files

       None.

#### Particulars

       CSPICE geometry routines that deal with planes use the `plane'
       data type to represent input and output planes. This data type
       makes the routine interfaces simpler and more uniform.

       The CSPICE routines that produce SPICE planes from data that
       define a plane are:

          nvc2pl_c ( Normal vector and constant to plane )
          nvp2pl_c ( Normal vector and point to plane    )
          psv2pl_c ( Point and spanning vectors to plane )

       The CSPICE routines that convert SPICE planes to data that
       define a plane are:

          pl2nvc_c ( Plane to normal vector and constant )
          pl2nvp_c ( Plane to normal vector and point    )
          pl2psv_c ( Plane to point and spanning vectors )

#### Examples

       The numerical results shown for these examples may differ across
       platforms. The results depend on the SPICE kernels used as
       input, the compiler and supporting libraries, and the machine
       specific arithmetic implementation.

       1) Determine the distance of a plane from the origin, and
          confirm the result by calculating the dot product (inner
          product) of a vector from the origin to the plane and a
          vector in that plane.

          The dot product between these two vectors should be zero,
          to double precision round-off, so orthogonal to that
          precision.

          Example code begins here.

          /.
             Program pl2nvc_ex1
          ./
          #include <stdio.h>
          #include "SpiceUsr.h"

          int main( )
          {

             SpiceDouble          konst;
             SpicePlane           plane;
             SpiceDouble          plnvec [3];
             SpiceDouble          vec    [3];

             /.
             Define the plane with a vector normal to the plan
             and a point in the plane.
             ./
             SpiceDouble          normal [3] = { -1.0,  5.0,   -3.5 };
             SpiceDouble          point  [3] = { 9.0, -0.65, -12.0 };

             /.
             Create the SPICE plane from the normal and point.
             ./
             nvp2pl_c ( normal, point, &plane );

             /.
             Calculate the normal vector and constant defining
             the plane. The constant value is the distance from
             the origin to the plane.
             ./
             pl2nvc_c ( &plane, normal, &konst );
             printf( "Distance to the plane: %11.7f\n", konst );

             /.
             Confirm the results. Calculate a vector
             from the origin to the plane.
             ./
             vscl_c ( konst, normal, vec );
             printf( "Vector from origin   : %11.7f %11.7f %11.7f\n",
                                               vec[0], vec[1], vec[2] );
             printf( " \n" );

             /.
             Now calculate a vector in the plane from the
             location in the plane defined by `vec'.
             ./
             vsub_c ( vec, point, plnvec );

             /.
             These vectors should be orthogonal.
             ./
             printf( "dot product          : %11.7f\n", vdot_c ( plnvec, vec ) );

             return ( 0 );
          }

          When this program was executed on a Mac/Intel/cc/64-bit
          platform, the output was:

          Distance to the plane:   4.8102899
          Vector from origin   :  -0.7777778   3.8888889  -2.7222222

          dot product          :  -0.0000000

       2) Apply a linear transformation represented by a matrix to
          a plane represented by a normal vector and a constant.

          Find a normal vector and constant for the transformed plane.

          Example code begins here.

          /.
             Program pl2nvc_ex2
          ./
          #include <stdio.h>
          #include "SpiceUsr.h"

          int main( )
          {

             /.
             Local variables.
             ./
             SpicePlane           plane;
             SpiceDouble          m      [3][3];
             SpiceDouble          point  [3];
             SpiceDouble          span1  [3];
             SpiceDouble          span2  [3];
             SpiceDouble          tkonst;
             SpiceDouble          tnorml [3];
             SpicePlane           tplane;
             SpiceDouble          tpoint [3];
             SpiceDouble          tspan1 [3];
             SpiceDouble          tspan2 [3];

             /.
             Set the normal vector and the constant defining the
             initial plane.
             ./
             SpiceDouble          normal [3] = {
                                             -0.1616904, 0.8084521, -0.5659165 };
             SpiceDouble          konst      = 4.8102899;

             /.
             Define a transformation matrix to the right-handed
             reference frame having the +i unit vector as primary
             axis, aligned to the original frame's +X axis, and
             the -j unit vector as second axis, aligned to the +Y
             axis.
             ./
             SpiceDouble          axdef  [3] = { 1.0,  0.0,  0.0 };
             SpiceDouble          plndef [3] = { 0.0, -1.0,  0.0 };

             twovec_c ( axdef, 1, plndef, 2, m );

             /.
             Make a SPICE plane from `normal' and `konst', and then
             find a point in the plane and spanning vectors for the
             plane.  `normal' need not be a unit vector.
             ./
             nvc2pl_c ( normal, konst, &plane );
             pl2psv_c ( &plane, point, span1, span2 );

             /.
             Apply the linear transformation to the point and
             spanning vectors.  All we need to do is multiply
             these vectors by `m', since for any linear
             transformation T,

                   T ( point  +  t1 * span1     +  t2 * span2 )

                =  T (point)  +  t1 * T(span1)  +  t2 * T(span2),

             which means that T(point), T(span1), and T(span2)
             are a point and spanning vectors for the transformed
             plane.
             ./
             mxv_c ( m, point, tpoint );
             mxv_c ( m, span1, tspan1 );
             mxv_c ( m, span2, tspan2 );

             /.
             Make a new SPICE plane `tplane' from the
             transformed point and spanning vectors, and find a
             unit normal and constant for this new plane.
             ./
             psv2pl_c (  tpoint, tspan1, tspan2, &tplane );
             pl2nvc_c ( &tplane, tnorml, &tkonst );

             /.
             Print the results.
             ./
             printf( "Unit normal vector: %11.7f %11.7f %11.7f\n",
                                   tnorml[0], tnorml[1], tnorml[2] );
             printf( "Constant          : %11.7f\n", tkonst );

             return ( 0 );
          }

          When this program was executed on a Mac/Intel/cc/64-bit
          platform, the output was:

          Unit normal vector:  -0.1616904  -0.8084521   0.5659165
          Constant          :   4.8102897

#### Restrictions

       None.

#### Literature_References

       [1]  G. Thomas and R. Finney, "Calculus and Analytic Geometry,"
            7th Edition, Addison Wesley, 1988.

#### Author_and_Institution

       N.J. Bachman        (JPL)
       J. Diaz del Rio     (ODC Space)
       E.D. Wright         (JPL)

#### Version

       -CSPICE Version 1.1.0, 24-AUG-2021 (JDR)

           Changed the output argument name "constant" to "konst" for
           consistency with other routines.

           Edited the header to comply with NAIF standard. Added complete code
           examples.

       -CSPICE Version 1.0.1, 06-FEB-2003 (EDW)

           Trivial correction to header docs.

       -CSPICE Version 1.0.0, 05-MAR-1999 (NJB)

#### Index_Entries

       plane to normal vector and constant

#### Link to routine pl2nvc_c source file pl2nvc_c.c

    Fri Dec 31 18:41:10 2021