Vincent Vanhegan

BEng Mechatronic Engineering (Hons)

about

Born and raised in Nottingham, I hold a First-Class BEng in Mechatronic Engineering from Manchester. I work at the intersection of hardware and software, stay active with Kabaddi, Volleyball, and Rock Climbing, and contribute to the community through nature-based volunteering and beekeeping.

Path Planning

Skills

  • Python
  • Path Planning (A*)

Goal

Implement the A* search algorithm in Python to plan obstacle-free routes between user-defined start and goal cells on a 2D occupancy grid, integrated with a provided GUI for visual testing

What I did

  • Complete A* implementation in pure Python with no external libraries
  • Four-directional motion model with uniform step cost and an admissible Euclidean-distance heuristic, guaranteeing an optimal-length path.
  • O(1) closed-set membership using a Python set, and path reconstruction via a came_from predecessor map traced from goal back to start.
  • Goal test performed on node expansion rather than generation, to preserve A*’s optimality guarantee under an admissible heuristic.
  • Thorough in-code documentation explaining the cost function f(n) = g(n) + h(n), the open/closed-list mechanics, and design choices made under the no-libraries constraint.

Outcome

Correct paths returned across all GUI test scenarios, with runtime well within the marking-scheme’s execution-speed threshold.