CS 470  Artificial Intelligence  Winter 2006,  Instructor:  Jeffrey Horn

HOMEWORK 2:  (program 2):  Heuristic Planner (A* Search) in Java
 

PROBLEM DOMAIN 1

Pacman-like maze

2D, dynamic, with moving opponents

(by Brian Postma)

• GOAL: 
  • To show how A* can be used to generate plans that move an avatar through a 2D maze to collect all energy pills while avoiding disastrous collisions with moving ghosts, within the shortest amount of time (i.e., fewest number of moves).
  • Actually, this problem domain is very similar to Problem Domain 2.  But Problem Domain 1 takes place in a much more confined 2D space, a "maze" essentially, in which obstacles cover more area than does "open space", and movement is not inertial.  Furthermore, the moving obstacles in PD1 actually come after you!
   
• CODE:
  • Here is a little DOS app. that runs a PACMAN-like game showing the shortest path to the goal, dynamically updated with each move by the player.  (Sorry, no source avail., but it is a nice illustration!)
  • Here is a paper with Java A* code applied to path finding in a 2D maze.
  • Also, Brian Postma has a complete Pacman game in Java, source available here and/or here.