How can I determine whether a 2D Point is within a Polygon?

Question

I\'m trying to create a fast 2D point inside polygon algorithm, for use in hit-testing (e.g. Polygon.contains(p:Point)). Suggestions for effective tech

Answer 1

This question is so interesting. I have another workable idea different from other answers to this post. The idea is to use the sum of angles to decide whether the target is inside or outside. Better known as winding number.

Let x be the target point. Let array [0, 1, .... n] be the all the points of the area. Connect the target point with every border point with a line. If the target point is inside of this area. The sum of all angles will be 360 degrees. If not the angles will be less than 360.

Refer to this image to get a basic understanding of the idea:

My algorithm assumes the clockwise is the positive direction. Here is a potential input:

[[-122.402015, 48.225216], [-117.032049, 48.999931], [-116.919132, 45.995175], [-124.079107, 46.267259], [-124.717175, 48.377557], [-122.92315, 47.047963], [-122.402015, 48.225216]]

The following is the python code that implements the idea:

def isInside(self, border, target):
degree = 0
for i in range(len(border) - 1):
    a = border[i]
    b = border[i + 1]

    # calculate distance of vector
    A = getDistance(a[0], a[1], b[0], b[1]);
    B = getDistance(target[0], target[1], a[0], a[1])
    C = getDistance(target[0], target[1], b[0], b[1])

    # calculate direction of vector
    ta_x = a[0] - target[0]
    ta_y = a[1] - target[1]
    tb_x = b[0] - target[0]
    tb_y = b[1] - target[1]

    cross = tb_y * ta_x - tb_x * ta_y
    clockwise = cross < 0

    # calculate sum of angles
    if(clockwise):
        degree = degree + math.degrees(math.acos((B * B + C * C - A * A) / (2.0 * B * C)))
    else:
        degree = degree - math.degrees(math.acos((B * B + C * C - A * A) / (2.0 * B * C)))

if(abs(round(degree) - 360) <= 3):
    return True
return False