sph_saff - spiral points on a sphere (Saff and Kuiljaars)

Usage | Examples | Notes

Usage



Usage: sph_saff [options] num_points

Distribute a number of points on a sphere using the algorithm
from "Distributing many points on a sphere" by E.B. Saff and
A.B.J. Kuijlaars, Mathematical Intelligencer 19.1 (1997) 5--11.

Options
  -h,--help this help message (run 'off_util -H help' for general help)
  --version version information
  -a <ang>  increment each point placement by a fixed angle instead of
            using Saff and Kuiljaars' placement method
  -p        place points at the two poles
  -o <file> write output to file (default: write to standard output)

Examples

Distribute 200 points on a sphere

sph_saff 200 | antiview -v b

Distribute 200 points on a sphere, start at the poles

sph_saff -p 200 | antiview -v b

Distribute 200 points on a sphere, using a golden section offset

sph_saff -a 222.49223595 200 | antiview -v b

An attractive spiral

sph_saff -a 65 500 | antiview -v b

Notes

An implementation of an "Easy method for a fairly good point distribution [Saff/Kuijlaars]"

Anton Sherwood helped with details of the algorithm. The angle offset option uses his method for spirals based on the golden ratio.

The output can be run through conv_hull to create a polyhedron.

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