Pathfinder 2.0 is the latest update to the original Pathfinder, an artificial intelligence bot written in Python which is capable of traveling through a maze between two specific points. Version 2.0 incorporates a graphical user interface (GUI) and the removal of user interaction via the command prompt. This new interactive GUI allows user to:

1. Resize the maze anywhere from 8×8 to 16×16.
2. Specify forbidden nodes, start node and end node anywhere within the maze.
3. Select one of the five available algorithms for use with path searching.
4. View the resulting path from start to goal on a given maze display window.

Source code may be downloaded from within my GitHub repository. Critics and suggestions welcome.

Artificial Intelligence (AI) has always been one of my interests. I was lucky enough to enrol in possibly one of the best courses offered at The University of Sydney, namely COMP3308 Introduction to Artificial Intelligence. My first assignment touched on path search algorithms which form the basis of “smart robots”. The problem in a nutshell is to write a program that, given a start node and a finish node, finds a path through a given maze (8×8 or 16×16) in the most efficient way. Five different algorithms were used: breadth-first search, depth-first search, greedy best-first search, A* search and hill-climbing search.

You can download the Python source code and documentation on my GitHub.

I am planning a version 2 which will incorporate a GUI for visual aid of the simulation, but first I’ll need to get my Python GUI programming up to speed…