Grid Pathfinding Visualizer

Overview

The Grid Pathfinding Visualizer is a powerful and flexible tool designed to visualize various grid-based pathfinding algorithms. It is an educational and research-focused project aimed at helping users understand how different algorithms work and how they can be applied to solve pathfinding problems.

Working example: Dijkstra and A* algorithms.

Features

• Map creation tool: Before running create the map using your cursor.
• Support for Multiple Algorithms: Visualize popular pathfinding algorithms such as A*, Dijkstra, BFS, and DFS.
• Interactive Grid: Create, edit, and manipulate grid layouts with obstacles, start, and end points.
• Step-by-Step Visualization: Watch algorithms in action step by step, highlighting the decision-making process.
• Performance Metrics: View performance metrics like time complexity, space complexity, and number of nodes expanded.
• Customizable Settings: Adjust algorithm parameters and grid properties to see how they affect the outcome.

Installation

To get started with the Pathfinding Visualization Framework, follow these steps:

1. Install Dependencies:

   sudo apt update
   sudo apt install -y git build-essential cmake libsfml-dev

2. Clone the Repository:

   git clone https://github.com/perchess/gpviz
   cd gpviz

3. Build package

   mkdir build && cd build
   cmake .. && make

4. Run the Application:

   ./Pathfinding

Usage

1. Launching the Framework:

   • After installation, run the application to launch the visualization framework.

2. Creating the Grid:

   • Use the interactive interface to create a grid layout. Add start and end points, and place obstacles as needed (mouse left button).

3. Selecting an Algorithm:

   • Choose a pathfinding algorithm from the list of supported algorithms (main.cpp).

4. Running the Visualization:

   • Start the visualization by closing the window with map creation.

5. Analyzing the Results:

   • Observe the path found by the algorithm, and review performance metrics displayed on the screen (stdout).

Algorithms Supported

• Dijkstra: A classic algorithm for finding the shortest paths from a single source node to all other nodes.
• A*: A popular and efficient pathfinding algorithm using heuristics to find the shortest path.

Customization

The framework is designed to be easily extendable. You can add new algorithms or customize existing ones by modifying the relevant files in the algorithms directory.

You need to implement a child class from the PathFinder class. You could use Dijkstra or A* as examples.

Contributing

Contributions are welcome!

License

This project is licensed under the MIT License. See the LICENSE file for details.

Contact

For questions, suggestions, or feedback, please open an issue or contact us at [[email protected]].