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Re: Calculating an average vector
Posted:
Nov 19, 2006 1:03 PM
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[Ricky Romaya <something@somewhere.com>]
>Given a set of N vectors, how can I calculate the average vector of the
>set. An average vector is defined (at least for the problem at hand) as a
>vector which have a magnitude in the range of min-max magnitude of the
>set, and have the average direction of the set.
[...]
>1. calculate the unit vectors for each vector in the set
>2. get the total of those unit vectors
>3. calculate the unit vector of that total
>4. calculate the average magnitude of the set
>5. take the direction vector of step #3 and magnitude of step #4 to
>create the final vector
[...]
>I'm not sure the steps I have
>taken is appropriate, and whether it can be generalized to vectors with
>any dimensions (I'm thinking of 6 or more dimensions).
Appropriateness would IMO depend on the application, but
have you considered a situation like the following?
vectors u, v, w;
u = v = 10^-12 x (1,0,0);
w = 10^12 x (-1,0,0);
proposed average ~ 3.3 x 10^11 x (1,0,0).
Perhaps you could tell us more about the problem first.
Regards,
--
Pouya D. Tafti
p dot d dot tafti at ieee dot org
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