AMazeBot 2016 API: Overview
All bot programs must be placed in a subpackage of bots.
For the competition this subpackage must have the same name as
your submission ID (e.g. AM16_42), but otherwise
it can be any valid Java identifier. At minimum a bot program
is contained in a class called Brain, which
extends BotBrain. Additionally other classes may
be present in the package. Note therefore that it is the package
name and not the class name that identifies
your bot. It is done this way to allow you break up your code
into several classes and not incur any risk of conflicting
with other bots.
Brain
This class is where the system will call your code. There are
only 2 required methods: public String getName()
and public void run(). The getName()
method should return a string containing your bot's preferred
nickname. The system will use this in the competition.
The run() method is where all the action
happens. Your code will call methods of the BotBrain class to
control the bot. You should use the getStartPosition()
to discover your bot's location, and getGoalCorner()
can be used to determine the location of the goal. Both the
start position and the goal will be different from maze to
maze.
Compass
A large part of running a maze is exploring, and what good
explorer is without a compass? The Compass class
is used for representing the cardinal directions (East, South,
West, North). You can use this class for all your directional
needs. It is less error-prone than attempting to write your
own class, or worse, using constants.
Basics of Movement
A bot's position is represented by a Point,
which has x and y coordinates. The top-left cell of the maze
is considered (0, 0) and the bottom-right cell is (28, 28). As
you move EAST a bot's x coordinate is
incremented by 1 and as you move SOUTH the y
position is incremented by 1. To move your bot you use the move
method with a direction (eg. Compass.SOUTH).
Before you actually move you may want to check to see that
the location is not a wall by using the look method.
BotBrain
BotBrain is the class that you must extend, and
its methods are the primary API you need to know to write your
bot programs. See this page for complete
documentation on all availalbe methods in BotBrain class.
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