MazeNav

MazeNav is the name of the client software used in my ASU Undergraduate Capstone project. The MazeNav software was developed by Garrett Drown, an ASU graduate, to be an web oriented educational programming tool; I expanded the tool to make it service oriented.

MazeNav allows students to develop an algorithm by creating a sequential list of conditions and responses. The algorithm to be developed is a maze transversal algorithm; by choosing motor responses (move forward, turn right, etc.) based on sonar sensor conditions (e.g. front sensor is less than 50) the student can develop various algorithms to get the simulated robot through the maze. By making MazeNav service-oriented, we enabled it to gather information from and connect to a physical robot (the Intel Autobot) using services hosted both on the robot and on a separate server. This allowed a user to run any maze transversal algorithm developed on MazeNav on the connected physical robot.

MazeNav is built in C# and uses WCF services to communicate. The Intel Autobot Project, for which MazeNav was used, was selected as a finalist for Intel's 2013 Cornell Cup under the team name "Techpriests".

Click here to learn more about the Intel Autobot project.

Click here to learn more about the Intel Autobot robotics platform itself.