3D Pathfinding in real world

The HoloLens is an AR device by Microsoft. This application execute an A* pathfinding algorithm using the real world objects detected by the HoloLens as obstacles, and finds the shortest path around them.

Key points

  • Hololens
  • A*
  • Unity

Features

The little pink robot obey to the voice command "Come" or the airtap gesture from the Hololens user.

Once called, it will try to get to the user, avoiding real obstacles on its way, like walls or desks.

Pathfinding

How it's done.

The Hololens is able to map its surrondings. The app can then access the 3D mesh and colliders built in real time.

I chose to make a more practical 3D grid using the spatial data mapped by the Hololens, so I built a 3D grid of 300 cells. Every cell then checks if they are a collider at its location.

The app can then run a 3D A* algorithm on the grid and returns the best path, that the robot can simply follow.

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