pathfinding
Plotting optimal routes
Pathfinding is the process of plotting a route from one point to another.
In video games and robotics, pathfinding algorithms calculate how characters or machines navigate around obstacles: The game's pathfinding is broken—NPCs keep walking into walls.
More broadly, pathfinding describes pioneering work that establishes a course others will follow: Her research was pathfinding in the field of gene therapy.
Path from A to B
- waypointNavigation reference location
- landmarkNotable point of reference
- destinationIntended arrival point
- compassDevice showing cardinal directions
bearings · directions · GPS · guidepost · traverse · crossing · detour · shortcut
Practical solving shortcut
- DFSGraph traversal going deepest first
- waypointNavigation reference location
- nodeConnection point in networks
- edgeBoundary or sharpness
graph · search · backtracking · greedy · reachability · traversal
First to forge ahead
- pioneerEarly explorer or settler
- scoutOne who reconnoiters
- unchartedNot yet documented
- frontierEdge of settlement
discovery · expedition · wilderness · trek · bushwhacking · orienteering · reconnaissance · surveying
Advice for decisions
- directionWay something faces
- mentorshipGuidance from experienced person
- leadershipAbility to direct others
- trailblazingBeing the first through
pioneering · visionary · roadmap · breakthrough · problem-solving · goal-seeking · self-discovery
Simulated cognitive processing
- NPCUncontrolled game character
- movementChange in position
- steeringControlling direction of movement
- flockingGathering in crowds
obstacle · collision · grid-based · line-of-sight · agent · goal-seeking · chase · flee
route
Path from A to B
- waypointNavigation reference location
- landmarkNotable point of reference
- destinationIntended arrival point
compass · bearings · directions · GPS · guidepost · traverse · crossing · detour · shortcut · checkpoint
heuristic
Practical solving shortcut
- DFSGraph traversal going deepest first
- waypointNavigation reference location
- nodeConnection point in networks
edge · graph · search · backtracking · greedy · reachability · traversal
trailblazer
First to forge ahead
frontier · discovery · expedition · wilderness · trek · bushwhacking · orienteering · reconnaissance · surveying · charting
guidance
Advice for decisions
- directionWay something faces
- mentorshipGuidance from experienced person
- leadershipAbility to direct others
trailblazing · pioneering · visionary · roadmap · breakthrough · problem-solving · goal-seeking · self-discovery
AI
Simulated cognitive processing
flocking · obstacle · collision · grid-based · line-of-sight · agent · goal-seeking · chase · flee · wander
- explorationexploration, explore, expedition, expeditions, voyage
- roboticsrobot, android, humanoid, robotic arm, servo
- exploratory venturesexpedition, voyage, safari, trek, quest
- Mazesmaze, labyrinth, corn maze, hedge maze, ball maze
- navigationcompass, compass rose, signs, charts, navbar
- pioneeringexploration, discovery, invention, founding, breakthrough
pathfindingwandering
Traveling with no fixed course
drifting · roaming · meandering · straying · rambling
pathfindinggetting lost
Becoming unable to navigate
disorientation · going astray · going in circles · misdirection
find, path, finding, pathway, paths, footpath, finder, finders, pathfinder