Overview

This is a p5.js sketch that lays the foundation for exploring the modeling of meandering rivers (Wikipedia).

Specifically, this just establishes the data model and what I hope is a good initial state to explore actual meandering in subsequent sketches. The implementing PR includes diagrams of the data structures and smoothing approach.

Controls

Configuration:

(via the dat.gui control panel)

• num_segments how many starting lines there are before smoothing takes place
• wave_amplitude number of pixels above and below the centerline the sine wave used to place the points will swing.
• wave_frequency the number of sine-wave oscillations before the end point.
• source_heading the direction of flow for head of the river
• smooth_curves toggles on/off the algorithmic smoothing of the curve.

Note: If you max out the num_segments you can see a clear depiction of the underlying sine-wave used for point generation. When the segment count is low, it is basically placing a point at the y coordinate along that wave for discrete x points (a sort of data-sampling effect).

References:

• Wikipedia: Meandering

Links:

• Live View
• Source on Github
• Primary Implementation

Screenshot: