Common tangents to planar parametric curves: A geometric solution (Q1344355)

The authors notice that the search for common tangents of two curves is made much faster if first the curves are split into arcs along which the curvature is of constant sign; then a comparison of couples of these arcs will elimiate most of them by simple geometric principles. The search for common tangents on the remaining couples then proceeds by a bisection algorithm. \{The rules for the choice of the bisection point are not spelled out, there might be room for improvement in this respect. Also, two spirals have infinitely many common tangents of which probably only two are of interest in design problems; this is another problem worthy of being looked into in this respect\}.