A-Star

An implementation of A* pathfinding done for a coursework in Java with data structure implementation for graph creation and navigation. Graphs can also be printed by using println(g) or g.toString(). Graphs are created by loading formatted comma seperated values in .cav files

Input Format (.cav file)

• The first integer gives the number of caverns N
• The next N*2 integers give the coordinates of each of the caverns (positive values)
• The final N*N integers give the connectivity of the tunnels. 1 means connected, 0 means not connected. Only unidirectional.

Run program

• open command line in folder with caveroute.bat (in src) and type the following:

caveroute _filename_

• make sure to type filename instead of filename.cav

Output

• Program will print duration the pathfinding took, the total cost and create a .csn files containing the ordered nodes of the shortest path.
• If there is no possible path, the program will detect that and the .csn file will be empty.

Notes

The dissertation discusses some path finding algorithms and how A* is not only the fastest but also always optimal for this specific problem.