Project Description

The Periphery Sweep algorithm is a novel graph searching algorithm to counter the inefficiencies of IDA* algorithm in an approach to make an algorithm faster than A*. A* algorithm is the current industry standard for all pathfinding application ranging from Google Maps to space exploration.
A* algorithm utilizes a data structure known as the priority queue which is key to its best-first exploration of nodes. It maintains an open list of nodes at all times which helps A* explore most promising nodes to yield the optimal solution. However, it becomes increasingly expensive to maintain the priority queue as the search space grows because it yields O(log N) time complexity for insertion and removal operations of nodes.
The Periphery Sweep algorithm optimizes the concept of iterative deepening to ensure best first exploration of nodes in the search space while eliminating the need for the priority queue. Appropriate data structures used yield O(1) time complexity for insertion and removal operations without compromising on the best-first exploration.