Vector Products As A Tool For The Investigation Of The Isometric Transformation Of Objects

The identification of isometric displacements of studied objects with utilization of the vector product is the aim of the analysis conducted in this paper. Isometric transformations involve translation and rotation. The behaviour of distances between check points on the object in the first and second measurements is a necessary condition for the determination of such displacements. For every three check points about the measured coordinate, one can determine the vector orthogonal to the two neighbouring sides of the triangle that are treated as vectors, using the definition of the vector product in three-dimensional space. If vectors for these points in the first and second measurements are parallel to the studied object has not changed its position or experienced translation. If the termini of vectors formed from vector products treated as the vectors are orthogonal to certain axis, then the object has experienced rotation. The determination of planes symmetric to these vectors allows the axis of rotation of the object and the angle of rotation to be found. The changes of the value of the angle between the normal vectors obtained from the first and second measurements, by exclusion of the isometric transformation, are connected to the size of the changes of the coordinates of check points, that is, deformation of the object. This paper focuses mainly on the description of the procedure for determining the translation and rotation. The main attention was paid to the rotation, due to the new and unusual way in which it is determined. Mean errors of the determined parameters are often treated briefly, and this subject requires separate consideration.