Robots, mazes, and subsumption architecture - 3 views
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Wall-following is a simple maze algorithm you might have learned as a child. All you do to solve a maze using this algorithm is keep your left hand on the left wall (or your right hand on the right wall) and just follow it along until you exit the maze. It's easy to see that this algorithm always works if the maze you're in has an entrance and an exit on its border. However, if the goal is within an island — a part of the maze that's disconnected from the rest of the maze — this algorithm can't find a solution because it can't "hop" over to the island.
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has only its exterior walls and "growing" walls inward