Maze Simulator

The original idea (and code) for the Maze Simulator came from Ben Axelrod and was posted on Channel 9.

I have modified the code so that you can have coloured walls and they can also be of different heights. The program only supports 16 different colours (or textures), but this is sufficient to give it that wonderful "Lego-like" quality that seems so appropriate for a simulated maze.

In addition, in the October version of the program I added the capability to create spheres, i.e. balls, that the robot can push around. Unfortunately, these balls will not bounce off the walls. I have been unable to find the "magic" commands required to make a ball bounce properly despite a couple of postings to the Discussion Forum.

And for the Version 1.0 release of Microsoft Robotics Studio, the December version of the Maze Simulator allows you to select either the Pioneer 3DX robot (with a camera mounted on top) or the Lego NXT by changing the RobotType in the configuration file.

The Maze Simulator is probably now nearing the end of its useful life. There is not much point in adding extra features because it will become too complicated, which defeats the purpose of the original exercise, i.e. to get you up and running quickly in a simulated, but interesting, environment.

Available Resources

Documentation

A Documentation page is provided with instructions on how to run the program. All of these web pages are included in the ZIP file so you don't have to go back to the Internet all the time. You should also read the readme.txt which is included in the ZIP file.

Tutorial

There is a brief Tutorial. However, it does not explain the program in detail. You can use the software without having to make any changes to the code. You should try the Microsoft Simulation Tutorials on which this program is based.

Software

The software is available via the following links:
QUT MSRS Apps 18-Jul-2007
This version was built with the version 1.5 release of MSRS.
Please read the readme.txt for installation instructions.

See also the Intro to Autonomous Robotics program that uses the Maze Simulator.

Legal Stuff

This code is based very heavily on the Microsoft MSRS Tutorials and feedback from the MSRS developers. It is not warranted to be suitable for any purpose other than playing around with MSRS. There are known bugs, and it is not intended as a definitive example of how to write robotic systems or simulation systems.