[SciPy-User] Projected Area

[Lorenzo Isella]

Dear All,
I hope this is not too off-topic.
I need to know if there is already some ready-to-use SciPy algorithm
(or at least if this is easy to implement or not).
Consider a dimer, i.e. 2 spheres with a single contact point. This
dimer can have any orientation in the  3D and I have the (x,y,z)
coordinates of the centre of the 2 spheres.
For a given orientation, I want to project the dimer on, let's say,
the xy plane and evaluate the area of the surface of its projection.
I spoke about a dimer since it is easy to start discussing a simple
case, but in general I will deal with objects consisting of several
non-overlapping spheres such that any sphere has at least a contact
point with another sphere.
Any suggestion is appreciated.
Cheers

Lorenzo