Circle line-segment collision detection algorithm?

Question

I have a line from A to B and a circle positioned at C with the radius R.

What is a good alg

Answer 1

This solution I found seemed a little easier to follow then some of the other ones.

Taking:

p1 and p2 as the points for the line, and
c as the center point for the circle and r for the radius

I would solve for the equation of the line in slope-intercept form. However, I didn't want to have to deal with difficult equations with c as a point, so I just shifted the coordinate system over so that the circle is at 0,0

p3 = p1 - c
p4 = p2 - c

By the way, whenever I subtract points from each other I am subtracting the x's and then subtracting the y's, and putting them into a new point, just in case someone didn't know.

Anyway, I now solve for the equation of the line with p3 and p4:

m = (p4_y - p3_y) / (p4_x - p3) (the underscore is an attempt at subscript)
y = mx + b
y - mx = b (just put in a point for x and y, and insert the m we found)

Ok. Now I need to set these equations equal. First I need to solve the circle's equation for x

x^2 + y^2 = r^2
y^2 = r^2 - x^2
y = sqrt(r^2 - x^2)

Then I set them equal:

mx + b = sqrt(r^2 - x^2)

And solve for the quadratic equation (0 = ax^2 + bx + c):

(mx + b)^2 = r^2 - x^2
(mx)^2 + 2mbx + b^2 = r^2 - x^2
0 = m^2 * x^2 + x^2 + 2mbx + b^2 - r^2
0 = (m^2 + 1) * x^2 + 2mbx + b^2 - r^2

Now I have my a, b, and c.

a = m^2 + 1
b = 2mb
c = b^2 - r^2

So I put this into the quadratic formula:

(-b ± sqrt(b^2 - 4ac)) / 2a

And substitute in by values then simplify as much as possible:

(-2mb ± sqrt(b^2 - 4ac)) / 2a
(-2mb ± sqrt((-2mb)^2 - 4(m^2 + 1)(b^2 - r^2))) / 2(m^2 + 1)
(-2mb ± sqrt(4m^2 * b^2 - 4(m^2 * b^2 - m^2 * r^2 + b^2 - r^2))) / 2m^2 + 2
(-2mb ± sqrt(4 * (m^2 * b^2 - (m^2 * b^2 - m^2 * r^2 + b^2 - r^2))))/ 2m^2 + 2
(-2mb ± sqrt(4 * (m^2 * b^2 - m^2 * b^2 + m^2 * r^2 - b^2 + r^2)))/ 2m^2 + 2
(-2mb ± sqrt(4 * (m^2 * r^2 - b^2 + r^2)))/ 2m^2 + 2
(-2mb ± sqrt(4) * sqrt(m^2 * r^2 - b^2 + r^2))/ 2m^2 + 2
(-2mb ± 2 * sqrt(m^2 * r^2 - b^2 + r^2))/ 2m^2 + 2
(-2mb ± 2 * sqrt(m^2 * r^2 + r^2 - b^2))/ 2m^2 + 2
(-2mb ± 2 * sqrt(r^2 * (m^2 + 1) - b^2))/ 2m^2 + 2

This is almost as far as it will simplify. Finally, separate out to equations with the ±:

(-2mb + 2 * sqrt(r^2 * (m^2 + 1) - b^2))/ 2m^2 + 2 or     
(-2mb - 2 * sqrt(r^2 * (m^2 + 1) - b^2))/ 2m^2 + 2 

Then simply plug the result of both of those equations into the x in mx + b. For clarity, I wrote some JavaScript code to show how to use this:

function interceptOnCircle(p1,p2,c,r){
    //p1 is the first line point
    //p2 is the second line point
    //c is the circle's center
    //r is the circle's radius

    var p3 = {x:p1.x - c.x, y:p1.y - c.y} //shifted line points
    var p4 = {x:p2.x - c.x, y:p2.y - c.y}

    var m = (p4.y - p3.y) / (p4.x - p3.x); //slope of the line
    var b = p3.y - m * p3.x; //y-intercept of line

    var underRadical = Math.pow((Math.pow(r,2)*(Math.pow(m,2)+1)),2)-Math.pow(b,2)); //the value under the square root sign 

    if (underRadical < 0){
    //line completely missed
        return false;
    } else {
        var t1 = (-2*m*b+2*Math.sqrt(underRadical))/(2 * Math.pow(m,2) + 2); //one of the intercept x's
        var t2 = (-2*m*b-2*Math.sqrt(underRadical))/(2 * Math.pow(m,2) + 2); //other intercept's x
        var i1 = {x:t1,y:m*t1+b} //intercept point 1
        var i2 = {x:t2,y:m*t2+b} //intercept point 2
        return [i1,i2];
    }
}

I hope this helps!

P.S. If anyone finds any errors or has any suggestions, please comment. I am very new and welcome all help/suggestions.