2400170 – Der de-Casteljau-Algorithmus

Based on barycentric coordinates and inspired by Steiner's parabola construction, Paul de Faget de Casteljau developed in 1958 for Citroën a geometric way to represent curves and surfaces by control points, his poles. In this course, I will introduce de Casteljau's algorithm and derive the classical core of Computer Aided Geometric Design solely based on de Casteljau's algorithm. De Casteljau's algorithm is much more than a simple recursive evaluation of polynomials. In fact, it reveals a rich deep structure behind fundamental algorithms of Computer Aided Geometric Design. The goal of this course is to point out how genial de Casteljau's discovery has been and still is.