by Daniel Shiffman. Convert a polar coordinate (r,theta) to cartesian (x,y): x = rcos(theta) y = rsin(theta)
Original Processing.org Example: PolarToCartesian
// All Examples Written by Casey Reas and Ben Fry // unless otherwise stated. float r; // Angle and angular velocity, accleration float theta; float theta_vel; float theta_acc; void setup() { size(200,200); frameRate(30); smooth(); // Initialize all values r = 50.0f; theta = 0.0f; theta_vel = 0.0f; theta_acc = 0.0001f; } void draw() { background(0); // Translate the origin point to the center of the screen translate(width/2,height/2); // Convert polar to cartesian float x = r * cos(theta); float y = r * sin(theta); // Draw the ellipse at the cartesian coordinate ellipseMode(CENTER); noStroke(); fill(200); ellipse(x,y,16,16); // Apply acceleration and velocity to angle (r remains static in this example) theta_vel += theta_acc; theta += theta_vel; }