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Bernstein polynomials and Bézier curves

Presentation · June 2015

DOI: 10.13140/RG.2.2.18412.82569

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Bernstein Polynomials and Bernstein-Bézier Curves

Rushan Ziatdinov, PhD

June 30, 2015

Rushan Ziatdinov, PhD Bernstein polynomials and Bézier curves June 30, 2015 1 / 15
Table of Contents

1 History of Bernstein Polynomials

2 Bernstein Polynomials
3 Properties of Bernstein Polynomials
4 Bernstein-Bézier Curves
5 References

Rushan Ziatdinov, PhD Bernstein polynomials and Bézier curves June 30, 2015 2 / 15
History of Bernstein Polynomials

1 In numerical analysis, a Bernstein polynomial, named after Prof.

Sergei Bernstein (USSR), is a polynomial in the Bernstein form,
that is a linear combination of Bernstein basis polynomials.
2 Prof. Sergei Bernstein first used these polynomials in a
constructive proof for the Stone-Weierstrass approximation
theorem (Bernstein, 1912).
3 At that time, Sergei Bernstein never thought that his polynomials
will be used as a basis functions for Bézier curves widely
publicized in 1960-s by the French engineers Pierre Bézier and
Paul de Casteljau.
4 Prof. Sergei Bernstein died on October 26, 1968 at the age of 88
in Moscow.

Rushan Ziatdinov, PhD Bernstein polynomials and Bézier curves June 30, 2015 3 / 15
Bernstein Polynomials
Bernstein polynomials are defined by
 
n i
Bi,n (t) = t (1 − t)n−i , (1)
i

where ni is a binomial coefficient computed as follows.

  Yn
n n+1−i
= . (2)
i i
i=1

The Bernstein polynomials of degree n form a basis for the power

polynomials of degree n. The first few polynomials are

B0,0 (t) = 1, (3)

B0,1 (t) = 1 − t, (4)

Rushan Ziatdinov, PhD Bernstein polynomials and Bézier curves June 30, 2015 4 / 15
Bernstein Polynomials

B1,1 (t) = t, (5)

2
B0,2 (t) = (1 − t) , (6)
B1,2 (t) = 2t(1 − t), (7)
2
B2,2 (t) = t , (8)
3
B0,3 (t) = (1 − t) , (9)
2
B1,3 (t) = 3t(1 − t) , (10)
2
B2,3 (t) = 3t (1 − t), (11)
3
B3,3 (t) = t . (12)

Rushan Ziatdinov, PhD Bernstein polynomials and Bézier curves June 30, 2015 5 / 15
Bernstein Polynomials

(a) (b)
Figure 1: Graphs of Bernstein polynomials: (a) B(i, 0), (b) B(i, 1).

Rushan Ziatdinov, PhD Bernstein polynomials and Bézier curves June 30, 2015 6 / 15
Bernstein Polynomials

(a) (b)
Figure 2: Graphs of Bernstein polynomials: (a) B(i, 2), (b) B(i, 3).

Rushan Ziatdinov, PhD Bernstein polynomials and Bézier curves June 30, 2015 7 / 15
Bernstein Polynomials

(a) (b)
Figure 3: Graphs of Bernstein polynomials: (a) B(i, 4), (b) B(i, 5).

Rushan Ziatdinov, PhD Bernstein polynomials and Bézier curves June 30, 2015 8 / 15
Properties of Bernstein Polynomials

Bernstein polynomials have a number of useful properties (Farin,

1993):
Bi,n (t) = Bn−i,n (1 − t) (symmetry);
Bi,n (t) ≥ 0 (positivity);
Pn
Bi,n (t) = 1 for 0 ≤ t ≤ 1 (normalization);
i=0
Bi,n (t) with i 6= 0, n has a single unique local maximum of
 
i −n n−i n
t n (n − i) occuring at t = i/n.
i

Rushan Ziatdinov, PhD Bernstein polynomials and Bézier curves June 30, 2015 9 / 15
Examples

Example 1 (on the whiteboard)

Using symmetry property show that B2,5 (t) = B3,5 (1 − t).

Example 2 (in CAS Maple)

Plot the graphs of Bernstein polynomials for different values of n.

Both examples are available online at

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AL0vcsLlYp4.

Rushan Ziatdinov, PhD Bernstein polynomials and Bézier curves June 30, 2015 10 / 15
Properties of Bernstein Polynomials

The envelope fn (t) of Bernstein polynomials Bi,n (t) for i = 0, 1, . . . n is

given by (Mabry, 2003)
1
fn (t) = p . (13)
2πnt(1 − t)

Rushan Ziatdinov, PhD Bernstein polynomials and Bézier curves June 30, 2015 11 / 15
Properties of Bernstein Polynomials

(a) (b)
Figure 4: The envelope of Bernstein polynomials: (a) B(i, 5). (b) B(i, 50).
Red line shows the envelope fn (t).

Rushan Ziatdinov, PhD Bernstein polynomials and Bézier curves June 30, 2015 12 / 15
Bernstein-Bézier Curves

Parametric curve frequently used in approximation theory,

computer graphics and related fields.
First used to design automobile bodies at Renault.
The study of these curves was however first developed in 1959 by
mathematician Paul de Casteljau using de Casteljau’s algorithm, a
numerically stable method to evaluate Bernstein-Bézier curves at
Citroën, another French automaker.
Quadratic and cubic Bernstein-Bézier curves are most common.

Rushan Ziatdinov, PhD Bernstein polynomials and Bézier curves June 30, 2015 13 / 15
Examples

Example 3 (on the whiteboard)

Explain how Bernstein-Bézier curves are constructed for the given
three control points.

Rushan Ziatdinov, PhD Bernstein polynomials and Bézier curves June 30, 2015 14 / 15
References

1 Bernstein, S. Démonstration du théorème de Weierstrass fondée

sur le calcul des probabilities. Comm. Soc. Math. Kharkov
13(1-2), 1912.
2 http://mathworld.wolfram.com/BernsteinPolynomial.html
3 Farin, G. Curves and Surfaces for Computer Aided Geometric
Design. San Diego: Academic Press, 1993.
4 Mabry, Rick. Problem 10990. The American Mathematical
Monthly 110.1 (2003): 59.

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Ziatdinov, stats Bernstein polynomials and Bézier curves June 30, 2015 15 / 15