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Revision as of 20:39, 3 March 2004 by Charles Matthews (talk | contribs)(diff) ← Previous revision | Latest revision (diff) | Newer revision → (diff)An articulated figure consists of a set of rigid segments connected with joints. Varying the angles of the joints yields an indefinite number of configurations. The solution to the forward kinematics problem, given these angles, is the desired posture of the figure. The more difficult solution to the inverse kinematics problem is to find the joint angles given the desired configuration of the figure (i.e., end-effector).
For animators, the inverse kinematics problem is of great importance. These artists find it far simpler to express spatial appearance rather than joint angles. Applications of inverse kinematic algorithms include interactive manipulation, animation control and collision avoidance. Some of these solutions approach the problem via nonlinear programming techniques.