Problem 193. Smallest distance between a point and a rectangle

Created by Alfonso Nieto-Castanon

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{"relationships":[{"relationshipType":"http://schemas.mathworks.com/matlab/code/2013/relationships/document","targetMode":"","relationshipId":"rId1","target":"/matlab/document.xml"},{"relationshipType":"http://schemas.mathworks.com/matlab/code/2013/relationships/output","targetMode":"","relationshipId":"rId2","target":"/matlab/output.xml"}],"parts":[{"partUri":"/matlab/document.xml","relationship":[],"contentType":"application/vnd.mathworks.matlab.code.document+xml","content":"<?xml version=\"1.0\" encoding=\"UTF-8\"?>\n<w:document xmlns:w=\"http://schemas.openxmlformats.org/wordprocessingml/2006/main\"><w:body><w:p><w:pPr><w:pStyle w:val=\"text\"/></w:pPr><w:r><w:t>Given two points</w:t></w:r><w:r><w:t> </w:t></w:r><w:r><w:rPr><w:b/></w:rPr><w:t>x</w:t></w:r><w:r><w:t> and</w:t></w:r><w:r><w:t> </w:t></w:r><w:r><w:rPr><w:b/></w:rPr><w:t>y</w:t></w:r><w:r><w:t> placed at opposite corners of a rectangle, find the minimal euclidean distance between another point</w:t></w:r><w:r><w:t> </w:t></w:r><w:r><w:rPr><w:b/></w:rPr><w:t>z</w:t></w:r><w:r><w:t> and every point within this rectangle.</w:t></w:r></w:p><w:p><w:pPr><w:pStyle w:val=\"text\"/></w:pPr><w:r><w:t>For example, the two points</w:t></w:r></w:p><w:p><w:pPr><w:pStyle w:val=\"code\"/></w:pPr><w:r><w:t><![CDATA[     x = [-1,-1];\n     y = [1,1];]]></w:t></w:r></w:p><w:p><w:pPr><w:pStyle w:val=\"text\"/></w:pPr><w:r><w:t>define a square centered at the origin. The distance between the point</w:t></w:r></w:p><w:p><w:pPr><w:pStyle w:val=\"code\"/></w:pPr><w:r><w:t><![CDATA[   z = [4,5];]]></w:t></w:r></w:p><w:p><w:pPr><w:pStyle w:val=\"text\"/></w:pPr><w:r><w:t>and this square is</w:t></w:r></w:p><w:p><w:pPr><w:pStyle w:val=\"code\"/></w:pPr><w:r><w:t><![CDATA[   d = 5;]]></w:t></w:r></w:p><w:p><w:pPr><w:pStyle w:val=\"text\"/></w:pPr><w:r><w:t>(the closest point in the square is at [1,1])</w:t></w:r></w:p><w:p><w:pPr><w:pStyle w:val=\"text\"/></w:pPr><w:r><w:t>The distance between the point z = [0,2] and this same square is d = 1 (closest point at [0,1])</w:t></w:r></w:p><w:p><w:pPr><w:pStyle w:val=\"text\"/></w:pPr><w:r><w:t>The distance between the point z = [0,0] and this same square is d = 0 (inside the square)</w:t></w:r></w:p><w:p><w:pPr><w:pStyle w:val=\"text\"/></w:pPr><w:r><w:t>Notes:</w:t></w:r></w:p><w:p><w:pPr><w:pStyle w:val=\"ListParagraph\"/><w:numPr><w:numId w:val=\"1\"/></w:numPr></w:pPr><w:r><w:t>you can always assume that</w:t></w:r><w:r><w:t> </w:t></w:r><w:r><w:rPr><w:b/></w:rPr><w:t>x</w:t></w:r><w:r><w:t> &lt;</w:t></w:r><w:r><w:t> </w:t></w:r><w:r><w:rPr><w:b/></w:rPr><w:t>y</w:t></w:r><w:r><w:t> (element-wise)</w:t></w:r></w:p><w:p><w:pPr><w:pStyle w:val=\"ListParagraph\"/><w:numPr><w:numId w:val=\"1\"/></w:numPr></w:pPr><w:r><w:t>The function should work for points x,y,z in an arbitrary n-dimensional space (with n&gt;1)</w:t></w:r></w:p></w:body></w:document>"},{"partUri":"/matlab/output.xml","contentType":"text/xml","content":"<?xml version=\"1.0\" encoding=\"UTF-8\" standalone=\"no\" ?><embeddedOutputs><metaData><evaluationState>manual</evaluationState><layoutState>code</layoutState><outputStatus>ready</outputStatus></metaData><outputArray type=\"array\"/><regionArray type=\"array\"/></embeddedOutputs>"}]}

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Last Solution submitted on Sep 17, 2020

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Sam on 8 Oct 2014

For the n dimensional case it would be better to say that x and y lie on opposite vertices of the n-hypercuboid such that each edge is parallel to a coordinate axis.

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Solution 18090

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Alfonso Nieto-Castanon on 31 Jan 2012

nice trick :)

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Problem 193. Smallest distance between a point and a rectangle

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Problem 193. Smallest distance between a point and a rectangle

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