Based on my own answer to this question, I got the following result:
Positioning of the arrows is done automatically according to the list of points that appears at the beginning of the code. Here we go:
\documentclass{standalone}
\usepackage{etoolbox}
\usepackage{tikz}
\usetikzlibrary{shapes}
\usetikzlibrary{intersections}
\usetikzlibrary{decorations.markings}
\newcounter{counter}
\newcommand\getpoint[1]{\csuse{point#1}}
\def\pointlist{}
\newcommand\setpoint[2]{
\node (point#1) at #2 {};
\csxdef{point#1}{#2}
\edef\pointlist{\pointlist \getpoint{#1}}
}
\newcommand\addpoint[1]{\stepcounter{counter} \setpoint{\thecounter}{#1}}
\newcounter{anothercounter}
\newcommand\getanotherpoint[1]{\csuse{anotherpoint#1}}
\def\anotherpointlist{}
\newcommand\setanotherpoint[2]{
\csxdef{anotherpoint#1}{#2}
\edef\anotherpointlist{\anotherpointlist \getanotherpoint{#1}}
}
\newcommand\addanotherpoint[1]{\stepcounter{anothercounter} \setpoint{\theanothercounter}{#1}}
\begin{document}
\begin{tikzpicture}
\addpoint{(4,1)}
\addpoint{(2,2)}
\addpoint{(1,3)}
\addpoint{(2,4)}
\addpoint{(4,3)}
\draw [name path = curve 1, black, very thick] plot [smooth] coordinates {\pointlist};
\path [name intersections={of=curve 1 and curve 1, name=i, total=\t, sort by = curve 1}] node {\xdef\totalone{\t}};
\edef\mypath{}
\pgfmathsetmacro{\lastbutone}{\totalone - 1}
\foreach \k in {1, ..., \lastbutone}
{
\xdef\mypath{\mypath (i-\k) -- }
}
\edef\mypath{\mypath (i-\totalone)}
\newdimen\xone
\newdimen\yone
\newdimen\xtwo
\newdimen\ytwo
\foreach \q in {1, ..., \thecounter}
{
\pgfextractx{\xtwo}{\pgfpointanchor{point\q}{center}}
\pgfextracty{\ytwo}{\pgfpointanchor{point\q}{center}}
\foreach \p in {1, ..., \totalone}
{
\pgfextractx{\xone}{\pgfpointanchor{i-\p}{center}}
\pgfextracty{\yone}{\pgfpointanchor{i-\p}{center}}
\ifboolexpr{
test {\ifdimless{\xtwo - 0.6pt}{\xone}} and test {\ifdimless{\xone}{\xtwo + 0.6pt}}
and
test {\ifdimless{\ytwo - 0.6pt}{\yone}} and test {\ifdimless{\yone}{\ytwo + 0.6pt}}
}{
\setanotherpoint{\q}{\p}
}{
}
}
}
\foreach \k in {1, ..., \thecounter}
{
\node [
circle
, fill = green!60
, inner sep = 3pt
] (thepoint \k) at (i-\getanotherpoint{\k}) {};
}
\foreach \k in {2, ..., \thecounter}
{
\pgfmathtruncatemacro{\lastpoint}{\getanotherpoint{\k} - 5}
\draw [decorate, decoration = {markings, mark = at position -0.01pt with {
\node [
single arrow
, fill = red
, anchor = east
, minimum size = 2mm
, inner sep = 1pt
, single arrow head extend = 2pt
, transform shape
]{};
}}] (i-\lastpoint) -- (thepoint \k) {};
}
\end{tikzpicture}
\end{document}
EDIT
OBS: I changed the style of the arrow just to be more like the provided example.
Well, just to complete my answer, now I will give a little more detail. Tripplet said there was a space between the arrow and cículo and he was right, as can be seen here:
The distance between the circle and the arrow was given by the contour line, which was not being drawn. This is easily fixed as you can see:
\foreach \k in {1, ..., \thecounter} {
\node [
circle
, draw = green % added
, fill = green!50
, inner sep = 3pt
] (thepoint \k) at (i-\getanotherpoint{\k}) {};
}
And the result is
But, if desired the arrow gets further into the circle, one can make the following changes:
\foreach \k in {1, ..., \thecounter} {
\node [
circle
, inner sep = 2.75pt
] (thepoint \k) at (i-\getanotherpoint{\k}) {};
\node [
circle
, draw = green
, fill = green!50
, inner sep = 3pt
] at (i-\getanotherpoint{\k}) {};
}
And you will get:
