An Improved Shortest Path Campus Navigation Algorithm

Navigation within college campuses can be a challenging task for students, staff, and visitors. With the increasing reliance on smartphones as a common utility, it is possible to develop a dedicated navigation system to aid in navigating these complex environments. In an effort to improve upon traditional navigation methods, we explored the use of the A* algorithm and identified an opportunity to enhance its performance by implementing bidirectional search. This allows the algorithm to search simultaneously from both the start and end points, reducing the search space and improving efficiency. Additionally, we utilized a caching mechanism to store previously calculated paths, which allows the algorithm to reuse these values and further improve its performance. Our approach offers a unique solution to the problem of navigating on college campuses and has the potential to significantly improve the user experience.