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The distinctive feature of a polynomial parametric speed let polynomial Pythagorean-hodograph (PH) curves be attractive for the design of accurate and efficient application algorithms. We propose a robust path following scheme for the construction of smooth spatial motions by exploiting PH spline curves. In order to cover a general configuration setting, we present a guidance law which is suitable both for fully-actuated and (more common) under-actuated vehicles, which cannot control all the degrees of freedom. The robustness of the guidance law is enhanced by also taking into account the influence of wind or currents into the equations of motion. A selection of numerical experiments validates the effectiveness of the control strategy when $C^1$ spatial PH quintic interpolants are suitably considered for both kinematic and dynamic simulations., Comment: 17 pages, 7 figures

We present a meshless finite difference method for multivariate scalar conservation laws that generates positive schemes satisfying a local maximum principle on irregular nodes and relies on artificial viscosity for shock capturing. Coupling two different numerical differentiation formulas and adaptive selection of the sets of influence allows to meet a local CFL condition without any a priori time step restriction. Artificial viscosity term is chosen in an adaptive way by applying it only in the vicinity of the sharp features of the solution identified by an algorithm for fault detection on scattered data. Numerical tests demonstrate a robust performance of the method on irregular nodes and advantages of adaptive artificial viscosity. The accuracy of the obtained solutions is comparable to that for standard monotone methods available only on Cartesian grids.

When a moving frame defined along a space curve is required to keep an axis aligned with the tangent direction of motion, the use of rotation-minimizing frames (RMF) avoids unnecessary rotations in the normal plane. The construction of rigid body motions using a specific subset of quintic curves with rational RMFs (RRMFs) is here considered. In particular, a novel geometric characterization of such subset enables the design of a local algorithm to interpolate an assigned stream of positions, together with an initial frame orientation. To achieve this, the translational part of the motion is described by a parametric $G^1$ spline curve whose segments are quintic RRMFs, with a globally continuous piecewise rational rotation-minimizing frame. A selection of numerical experiments illustrates the performances of the proposed method on synthetic and arbitrary data streams., Comment: 29 pages, 14 figures

We present a generalized formulation for reweighted least squares approximations. The goal of this article is twofold: firstly, to prove that the solution of such problem can be expressed as a convex combination of certain interpolants when the solution is sought in any finite-dimensional vector space; secondly, to provide a general strategy to iteratively update the weights according to the approximation error and apply it to the spline fitting problem. In the experiments, we provide numerical examples for the case of polynomials and splines spaces. Subsequently, we evaluate the performance of our fitting scheme for spline curve and surface approximation, including adaptive spline constructions.

The availability of data is limited in some fields, especially for object detection tasks, where it is necessary to have correctly labeled bounding boxes around each object. A notable example of such data scarcity is found in the domain of marine biology, where it is useful to develop methods to automatically detect submarine species for environmental monitoring. To address this data limitation, the state-of-the-art machine learning strategies employ two main approaches. The first involves pretraining models on existing datasets before generalizing to the specific domain of interest. The second strategy is to create synthetic datasets specifically tailored to the target domain using methods like copy-paste techniques or ad-hoc simulators. The first strategy often faces a significant domain shift, while the second demands custom solutions crafted for the specific task. In response to these challenges, here we propose a transfer learning framework that is valid for a generic scenario. In this framework, generated images help to improve the performances of an object detector in a few-real data regime. This is achieved through a diffusion-based generative model that was pretrained on large generic datasets. With respect to the state-of-the-art, we find that it is not necessary to fine tune the generative model on the specific domain of interest. We believe that this is an important advance because it mitigates the labor-intensive task of manual labeling the images in object detection tasks. We validate our approach focusing on fishes in an underwater environment, and on the more common domain of cars in an urban setting. Our method achieves detection performance comparable to models trained on thousands of images, using only a few hundreds of input data. Our results pave the way for new generative AI-based protocols for machine learning applications in various domains., Comment: 28 pages, 16 figures, 1 table

We present new fault jump estimates to guide local refinement in surface approximation schemes with adaptive spline constructions. The proposed approach is based on the idea that, since discontinuities in the data should naturally correspond to sharp variations in the reconstructed surface, the location and size of jumps detected in the input point cloud should drive the mesh refinement algorithm. To exploit the possibility of inserting local meshlines in one or the other coordinate direction, as suggested by the jump estimates, we propose a quasi-interpolation (QI) scheme based on locally refined B-splines (LR B-splines). Particular attention is devoted to the construction of the local operator of the LR B-spline QI scheme, which properly adapts the spline approximation according to the nature and density of the scattered data configuration. A selection of numerical examples outlines the performance of the method on synthetic and real datasets characterized by different geographical features., Comment: 28 pages, 11 figures

We present an adaptive scheme for isogeometric phase-field modeling, to perform suitably graded hierarchical refinement and coarsening on both single- and multi-patch geometries by considering truncated hierarchical spline constructions which ensures $C^1$ continuity between patches. We apply the proposed algorithms to the Cahn-Hilliard equation, describing the time-evolving phase separation processes of immiscible fluids. We first verify the accuracy of the hierarchical spline scheme by comparing two classical indicators usually considered in phase-field modeling, for then demonstrating the effectiveness of the grading strategy in terms of accuracy per degree of freedom. A selection of numerical examples confirms the performance of the proposed scheme to simulate standard modes of phase separation using adaptive isogeometric analysis with smooth THB-spline constructions.

Isogeometric analysis is a powerful paradigm which exploits the high smoothness of splines for the numerical solution of high order partial differential equations. However, the tensor-product structure of standard multivariate B-spline models is not well suited for the representation of complex geometries, and to maintain high continuity on general domains special constructions on multi-patch geometries must be used. In this paper we focus on adaptive isogeometric methods with hierarchical splines, and extend the construction of $C^1$ isogeometric spline spaces on multi-patch planar domains to the hierarchical setting. We introduce a new abstract framework for the definition of hierarchical splines, which replaces the hypothesis of local linear independence for the basis of each level by a weaker assumption. We also develop a refinement algorithm that guarantees that the assumption is fulfilled by $C^1$ splines on certain suitably graded hierarchical multi-patch mesh configurations, and prove that it has linear complexity. The performance of the adaptive method is tested by solving the Poisson and the biharmonic problems.

In this paper the numerical solution of potential problems defined on 3D unbounded domains is addressed with Boundary Element Methods (BEMs), since in this way the problem is studied only on the boundary, and thus any finite approximation of the infinite domain can be avoided. The isogeometric analysis (IGA) setting is considered and in particular B-splines and NURBS functions are taken into account. In order to exploit all the possible benefits from using spline spaces, an important point is the development of specific cubature formulas for weakly and nearly singular integrals. Our proposal for this aim is based on spline quasi-interpolation and on the use of a spline product formula. Besides that, a robust singularity extraction procedure is introduced as a preliminary step and an efficient function-by-function assembly phase is adopted. A selection of numerical examples confirms that the numerical solutions reach the expected convergence orders., Comment: 17 pages, 4 figures

We present weighted quadrature for hierarchical B-splines to address the fast formation of system matrices arising from adaptive isogeometric Galerkin methods with suitably graded hierarchical meshes. By exploiting a local tensor-product structure, we extend the construction of weighted rules from the tensor-product to the hierarchical spline setting. The proposed algorithm has a computational cost proportional to the number of degrees of freedom and advantageous properties with increasing spline degree. To illustrate the performance of the method and confirm the theoretical estimates, a selection of 2D and 3D numerical tests is provided.

The construction of smooth spatial paths with Pythagorean-hodograph (PH) quintic spline biarcs is proposed. To facilitate real-time computations of $C^2$ PH quintic splines, an efficient local data stream interpolation algorithm is introduced. Each spline segment interpolates second and first order Hermite data at the initial and final end-point, respectively. In the spline extension of the scheme a $C^2$ smooth connection between successive spline segments is obtained by taking the locally required second-order derivative information from the previous segment. Consequently, the data stream spline interpolant is globally $C^2$ continuous and can be constructed for arbitrary $C^1$ Hermite data configurations. A simple and effective selection of the free parameters that arise in the interpolation problem is proposed. The developed theoretical analysis proves the fourth approximation order of the local scheme while a selection of numerical examples confirms the same accuracy of its spline extension. In addition, the performances of the algorithm are also validated by considering its application to point stream interpolation with automatically generated first-order derivative information., Comment: 23 pages, 7 figures

This paper reviews the state of the art and discusses recent developments in the field of adaptive isogeometric analysis, with special focus on the mathematical theory. This includes an overview of available spline technologies for the local resolution of possible singularities as well as the state-of-the-art formulation of convergence and quasi-optimality of adaptive algorithms for both the finite element method (FEM) and the boundary element method (BEM) in the frame of isogeometric analysis (IGA).

We consider two-stage scattered data fitting with truncated hierarchical B-splines (THB-splines) for the adaptive reconstruction of industrial models. The first stage of the scheme is devoted to the computation of local least squares variational spline approximations, exploiting a simple fairness functional to handle data distributions with a locally varying density of points. Hierarchical spline quasi-interpolation based on THB-splines is considered in the second stage of the method to construct the adaptive spline surface approximating the whole scattered data set and a suitable strategy to guide the adaptive refinement is introduced. A selection of examples on geometric models representing components of aircraft turbine blades highlights the performances of the scheme. The tests include a scattered data set with voids and the adaptive reconstruction of a cylinder-like surface.

We present the construction of additive multilevel preconditioners, also known as BPX preconditioners, for the solution of the linear system arising in isogeometric adaptive schemes with (truncated) hierarchical B-splines. We show that the locality of hierarchical spline functions, naturally defined on a multilevel structure, can be suitably exploited to design and analyze efficient multilevel decompositions. By obtaining smaller subspaces with respect to standard tensor-product B-splines, the computational effort on each level is reduced. We prove that, for suitably graded hierarchical meshes, the condition number of the preconditioned system is bounded independently of the number of levels. A selection of numerical examples validates the theoretical results and the performance of the preconditioner.

Adaptive isogeometric methods for the solution of partial differential equations rely on the construction of locally refinable spline spaces. A simple and efficient way to obtain these spaces is to apply the multi-level construction of hierarchical splines, that can be used on single-patch domains or in multi-patch domains with $C^0$ continuity across the patch interfaces. Due to the benefits of higher continuity in isogeometric methods, recent works investigated the construction of spline spaces with global $C^1$ continuity on two or more patches. In this paper, we show how these approaches can be combined with the hierarchical construction to obtain global $C^1$ continuous hierarchical splines on two-patch domains. A selection of numerical examples is presented to highlight the features and effectivity of the construction.

We present a method to detect discontinuity curves, usually called faults, from a set of scattered data. The scheme first extracts from the data set a subset of points close to the faults. This selection is based on an indicator obtained by using numerical differentiation formulas with irregular centers for gradient approximation, since they can be directly applied to the scattered point cloud without intermediate approximations on a grid. The shape of the faults is reconstructed through local computations of regression lines and quadratic least squares approximations. In the final reconstruction stage, a suitable curve interpolation algorithm is applied to the selected set of ordered points previously associated with each fault.

In the present work we introduce a complete set of algorithms to efficiently perform adaptive refinement and coarsening by exploiting truncated hierarchical B-splines (THB-splines) defined on suitably graded isogeometric meshes, that are called admissible mesh configurations. We apply the proposed algorithms to two-dimensional linear heat transfer problems with localized moving heat source, as simplified models for additive manufacturing applications. We first verify the accuracy of the admissible adaptive scheme with respect to an overkilled solution, for then comparing our results with similar schemes which consider different refinement and coarsening algorithms, with or without taking into account grading parameters. This study shows that the THB-spline admissible solution delivers an optimal discretization for what concerns not only the accuracy of the approximation, but also the (reduced) number of degrees of freedom per time step. In the last example we investigate the capability of the algorithms to approximate the thermal history of the problem for a more complicated source path. The comparison with uniform and non-admissible hierarchical meshes demonstrates that also in this case our adaptive scheme returns the desired accuracy while strongly improving the computational efficiency., Comment: 20 pages, 12 figures

The isogeometric formulation of Boundary Element Method (BEM) is investigated within the adaptivity framework. Suitable weighted quadrature rules to evaluate integrals appearing in the Galerkin BEM formulation of 2D Laplace model problems are introduced. The new quadrature schemes are based on a spline quasi-interpolant (QI) operator and properly framed in the hierarchical setting. The local nature of the QI perfectly fits with hierarchical spline constructions and leads to an efficient and accurate numerical scheme. An automatic adaptive refinement strategy is driven by a residual based error estimator. Numerical examples show that the optimal convergence rate of the BEM solution is recovered by the proposed adaptive method.

Isogeometric analysis is a recently developed framework based on finite element analysis, where the simple building blocks in geometry and solution space are replaced by more complex and geometrically-oriented compounds. Box splines are an established tool to model complex geometry, and form an intermediate approach between classical tensor-product B-splines and splines over triangulations. Local refinement can be achieved by considering hierarchically nested sequences of box spline spaces. Since box splines do not offer special elements to impose boundary conditions for the numerical solution of partial differential equations (PDEs), we discuss a weak treatment of such boundary conditions. Along the domain boundary, an appropriate domain strip is introduced to enforce the boundary conditions in a weak sense. The thickness of the strip is adaptively defined in order to avoid unnecessary computations. Numerical examples show the optimal convergence rate of box splines and their hierarchical variants for the solution of PDEs.

We present a configurable trajectory planning strategy on planar paths for offline definition of time-dependent C2 piecewise quintic feedrates. The more conservative formulation ensures chord tolerance, as well as prescribed bounds on velocity, acceleration and jerk Cartesian components. Since the less restrictive formulations of our strategy can usually still ensure all the desired bounds while simultaneously producing faster motions, the configurability feature is useful not only when reduced motion control is desired but also when full kinematic control has to be guaranteed. Our approach can be applied to any planar path with a piecewise sufficiently smooth parametric representation. When Pythagoreanhodograph spline curves are considered, the corresponding accurate and efficient CNC interpolator algorithms can be exploited., Comment: 26 pages, 12 figures

We introduce an adaptive scattered data fitting scheme as extension of local least squares approximations to hierarchical spline spaces. To efficiently deal with non-trivial data configurations, the local solutions are described in terms of (variable degree) polynomial approximations according not only to the number of data points locally available, but also to the smallest singular value of the local collocation matrices. These local approximations are subsequently combined without the need of additional computations with the construction of hierarchical quasi-interpolants described in terms of truncated hierarchical B-splines. A selection of numerical experiments shows the effectivity of our approach for the approximation of real scattered data sets describing different terrain configurations.

A rotation-minimizing frame $({\bf f}_1,{\bf f}_2,{\bf f}_3)$ on a space curve ${\bf r}(\xi)$ defines an orthonormal basis for $\mathbb{R}^3$ in which ${\bf f}_1={\bf r}'/|{\bf r}'|$ is the curve tangent, and the normal-plane vectors ${\bf f}_2$, ${\bf f}_3$ exhibit no instantaneous rotation about ${\bf f}_1$. Polynomial curves that admit rational rotation-minimizing frames (or RRMF curves) form a subset of the Pythagorean-hodograph (PH) curves, specified by integrating the form ${\bf r}'(\xi)={\cal A}(\xi)\,{\bf i}\,{\cal A}^*(\xi)$ for some quaternion polynomial ${\cal A}(\xi)$. By introducing the notion of rotation indicatrix and of core of the quaternion polynomial ${\cal A}(\xi)$, a comprehensive characterization of the complete space of RRMF curves is developed, that subsumes all previously known special cases. This novel characterization helps clarify the structure of the complete space of RRMF curves, distinguishes the spatial RRMF curves from trivial (planar) cases, and paves the way toward new construction algorithms., Comment: 30 pages, 1 figure

Spline quasi-interpolation (QI) is a general and powerful approach for the construction of low cost and accurate approximations of a given function. In order to provide an efficient adaptive approximation scheme in the bivariate setting, we consider quasi-interpolation in hierarchical spline spaces. In particular, we study and experiment the features of the hierarchical extension of the tensor-product formulation of the Hermite BS quasi-interpolation scheme. The convergence properties of this hierarchical operator, suitably defined in terms of truncated hierarchical B-spline bases, are analyzed. A selection of numerical examples is presented to compare the performances of the hierarchical and tensor-product versions of the scheme.

An adaptive isogeometric method based on $d$-variate hierarchical spline constructions can be derived by considering a refine module that preserves a certain class of admissibility between two consecutive steps of the adaptive loop [6]. In this paper we provide a complexity estimate, i.e., an estimate on how the number of mesh elements grows with respect to the number of elements that are marked for refinement by the adaptive strategy. Our estimate is in the line of the similar ones proved in the finite element context, [3,24].

A comprehensive analysis of the morphology of the solution space for a special type of quadratic quaternion equation is presented. This equation, which arises in a surface construction problem, incorporates linear terms in a quaternion variable and its conjugate with right and left quaternion coefficients, while the quadratic term has a quaternion coefficient placed between the variable and its conjugate. It is proved that, for generic coefficients, the equation has two, one, or no solutions, but in certain special instances the solution set may comprise a circle or a 3-sphere in the quaternion space $\mathbb{H}$. The analysis yields solutions for each case, and intuitive interpretations of them in terms of the four-dimensional geometry of the quaternion space $\mathbb{H}$., Comment: 19 pages, to appear in the Journal of Symbolic Computation

The problem of developing an adaptive isogeometric method (AIGM) for solving elliptic second-order partial differential equations with truncated hierarchical B-splines of arbitrary degree and different order of continuity is addressed. The adaptivity analysis holds in any space dimensions. We consider a simple residual-type error estimator for which we provide a posteriori upper and lower bound in terms of local error indicators, taking also into account the critical role of oscillations as in a standard adaptive finite element setting. The error estimates are properly combined with a simple marking strategy to define a sequence of admissible locally refined meshes and corresponding approximate solutions. The design of a refine module that preserves the admissibility of the hierarchical mesh configuration between two consectutive steps of the adaptive loop is presented. The contraction property of the quasi-error, given by the sum of the energy error and the scaled error estimator, leads to the convergence proof of the AIGM., Comment: 30 pages, 17 figures