Rocket Landing Simulator

Gate Check #4 - Artificial Intelligence
Go Back to the Assignment Description

Part 1 (Overview) - Part 2 (Getting Ready) - Part 3 (AI Logic Part I) - Part 4 (AI Logic Part II) - Part 5 (AI Training)

Let's Build an AI (Part I)

The time has finally come to create the Artificial Intelligence that will pilot your rocket. Download the following files, and make sure they are in the same folder as your code.

• rocket_ai_template.py
• ga_helper.py

Then go ahead and rename rocket_ai_template so that the word "template" is replaced with your first and last name (e.g., rocket_ai_adriandefreitas).

You may (i.e., should) be wondering what these modules contain. Here's a quick rundown:

• rocket_ai_[YOUR NAME] - contains the run_autopilot function, which contains your AI logic
• Your main program will call this function instead of checking to see if the arrow keys are pressed.
• The function will look at the rocket's location, compare it to the boat's location, and determine which thrusters to fire. The function will return this information to your main program.
• Your main program will then actually fire the appropriate thrusters
• ga_helper - contains the function(s) you will need to train your AI once it is working to your satisfaction. Ignore it for now.

For now, let's open rocket_ai_[YOUR_NAME] and look at run_autopilot(). Look at how many parameters it has! Basically, this function receives all of the information it needs from your main program to determine what thrusters need to fire, such as:

• The current simulation run number. For example,if your program allows 10 runs per scenario, this parameter will be a number between 0 - 9.
• The (x, y) coordinates of the BOTTOM LEFT CORNER OF THE rocket and the boat
• The width of the rocket and the boat
• The rocket's current velocity

This function returns a tuple that specifies the amount the rocket should thrust in each direction (left, right, up--in that exact order). Right now, run_autopilot() returns a tuple containing only zeros, which means it is not telling the rocket to fire any thrusters. This is fine for now, but we will obviously need to update it soon.

In order to use run_autopilot(), we need to call it from your main program. Import both of these modules at the top of your main program. Then, go to get_input(), and update this function as follows (using the below logic design as a guide):

# Don't Forget to Import rocket_ai_[YOUR NAME] and ga_helper
import rocket_ai_[YOUR NAME]
import ga_helper

. . .

def get_input():
    global 
    
    1.  Set thrust up, thrust right, and thrust left amounts to 0.0
    
    2.  If the rocket is NOT in the Boost Phase:
        2a.  ai_decision = ga_ai_[YOUR NAME].run_autopilot(give it all the parameters it needs)
        2b.  Set thrust up, thrust right, and thrust left to the values contained in ai_decision
    
    # COMMENT OUT ALL OF THE BELOW CODE
    #2.  If the rocket is NOT in the Boost Phase:
    #    2a.  If the player is holding down the left key, set the left thruster to amount to some small value (<0.5)
    #    2b.  If the player is holding down the right key, set the right thruster to amount to some small value (<0.5)
    #    2c.  If the player is holding down the up key, set the up thruster amount to some small value (<0.5)