Technical Reports
HPL-2009-61
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Crazy Cuts: Dissecting Planar Shapes into Two Identical Parts
Bruckstein, Alfred M.; Shaked, Doron
HP Laboratories
HPL-2009-61
Keyword(s): Self Docking, congruent piece decomposition
Abstract: We analyze a well known type of puzzle in planar geometry: given a planar shape, it is required to find a cut that divides the shape into two identical parts (up to rotation and translation). Clearly not all shapes can be so dissected and for some shapes that appear in puzzles the cutting curve is quite surprising and difficult to find. In this paper we first analyze the inverse problem of assembling planar shapes from two identical parts having partially "matching" boundaries and then use the insights gained on this topic to derive an efficient algorithm to solve the dissection puzzle in quite general situations.
21 Pages
External Posting Date: March 21, 2009 [Fulltext]. Approved for External Publication
Internal Posting Date: March 21, 2009 [Fulltext]