AstraNav — Aerospace Navigation & Pathfinding Engine

A high-performance aerospace simulator and optimal flight corridor planner implemented in Java (Standard Edition) paired with an interactive HTML5 Radar Operations Dashboard.

This project models global and regional airspace, oceanic waypoint tracks, jetstream winds aloft, and dynamic restricted no-fly zones using fundamental Data Structures and Algorithms (DSA) written from first principles.

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Table of Contents

1. Core DSA Concepts Implemented
2. Aerospace Physics & Geodesy Models
3. Architecture Overview
4. Quick Start & Running the Project
5. Interactive Web Radar Dashboard
6. Automated Test Suite & Benchmarks

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Core DSA Concepts Implemented

DSA Concept	Implementation File	Key Operations & Complexity	Purpose in Flight Planning
Custom Binary Min-Heap	MinHeap.java	insert: $O(\log N)$, extractMin: $O(\log N)$, peek: $O(1)$	Core priority queue for candidate path ranking
Indexed Min-Heap	IndexedMinHeap.java	decreaseKey: $O(\log N)$, insertOrDecrease: $O(\log N)$	Classical textbook optimal Dijkstra's algorithm
Adjacency List Graph	AdjacencyListGraph.java	Space: $O(V + E)$, Neighbors: $O(\text{deg}(V))$	Sparse global flight corridor graph traversal
Adjacency Matrix Graph	AdjacencyMatrixGraph.java	Space: $O(V^2)$, Edge Lookup: $O(1)$	Direct airway connectivity check & density analysis
Dijkstra's Algorithm	DijkstraRouter.java	Time: $O((V + E) \log V)$, Space: $O(V)$	Single-source shortest path for distance/time/fuel
A Heuristic Search*	AStarRouter.java	$f(n) = g(n) + h(n)$ with Haversine heuristic	Guaranteed optimal route with 3x–5x fewer nodes explored
Breadth-First Search (BFS)	BfsDfsRouter.java	Time: $O(V + E)$	Minimum waypoint hops route (unweighted shortest path)
Depth-First Search (DFS)	BfsDfsRouter.java	Backtracking + 3-Color Cycle Detection	Enumerate viable flight corridors and detect routing loops
Yen's K-Shortest Paths	YenKShortestPaths.java	Time: $O(K \cdot V \cdot (E + V \log V))$	Generates top $K$ loopless alternative flight paths
Ray-Casting Geometry	AirspaceGeometry.java	$O(V)$ Point-in-Polygon & Segment-Circle	Restricted military airspace & storm cell collision avoidance
Divide & Conquer Sorters	RouteSorter.java	QuickSort (median-of-3) & MergeSort: $O(N \log N)$	Ranking flight route alternatives and diversion airports

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Aerospace Physics & Geodesy Models

1. Great-Circle Geodesic Distance (Haversine Formula)

Computes the true spherical distance between two aeronautical fixes $(\phi_1, \lambda_1)$ and $(\phi_2, \lambda_2)$:

$$ a = \sin^2\left(\frac{\Delta\phi}{2}\right) + \cos(\phi_1)\cos(\phi_2)\sin^2\left(\frac{\Delta\lambda}{2}\right) $$

$$ d = 2 R \cdot \text{atan2}\left(\sqrt{a}, \sqrt{1-a}\right) \quad (\text{where } R = 6371\text{ km}) $$

2. Initial Flight Track Bearing

Initial true heading angle $\theta$ in degrees $[0^\circ, 360^\circ)$:

$$ \theta = \text{atan2}\left(\sin(\Delta\lambda)\cos(\phi_2), ; \cos(\phi_1)\sin(\phi_2) - \sin(\phi_1)\cos(\phi_2)\cos(\Delta\lambda)\right) $$

3. Atmospheric Wind Triangle & Ground Speed

Given true airspeed $V_{\text{TAS}}$, flight course $\theta$, and wind aloft vector $(W_{\text{speed}}, W_{\text{dir}})$:

$$ V_{\text{tailwind}} = W_{\text{speed}} \cos(W_{\text{to}} - \theta) $$

$$ V_{\text{crosswind}} = W_{\text{speed}} \sin(W_{\text{to}} - \theta) $$

$$ V_{\text{ground}} = \sqrt{V_{\text{TAS}}^2 - V_{\text{crosswind}}^2} + V_{\text{tailwind}} $$

Eastbound transoceanic flights along the North Atlantic Tracks (NAT) catch the jetstream (+95 knot tailwind), increasing ground speed to over 1050 km/h and significantly cutting fuel burn, while westbound flights detour along southern tracks to avoid severe headwinds.

4. Aerodynamic Fuel Burn Equation

$$ \text{Fuel} = \left(\frac{d}{V_{\text{ground}}}\right) \cdot \dot{m}_{\text{base}} \cdot \left(1.0 + \frac{m_{\text{payload}}}{100,000} \cdot 0.15\right) \cdot \kappa_{\text{turbulence}} $$

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Architecture Overview

d:\Projects\AstraNav/
├── src/com/aerospace/flightpath/
│   ├── model/                  # Domain models (Airport, Waypoint, FlightSegment, AircraftProfile, RestrictedZone)
│   ├── dsa/
│   │   ├── heap/               # Custom MinHeap & IndexedMinHeap (O(log N) decreaseKey)
│   │   ├── graph/              # Graph interface, AdjacencyListGraph, AdjacencyMatrixGraph
│   │   ├── sort/               # QuickSort (median-of-three) & MergeSort implementations
│   │   └── geometry/           # Ray-casting point-in-polygon & segment-circle intersection
│   ├── algorithm/              # DijkstraRouter, AStarRouter, BfsDfsRouter, YenKShortestPaths, DynamicRerouter
│   ├── data/                   # Global aeronautical dataset (airports, waypoints, jetstream, no-fly zones)
│   ├── server/                 # Built-in zero-dependency HTTP server & JSON serializer
│   ├── cli/                    # Interactive CLI runner with ASCII flight plans and benchmarks
│   ├── test/                   # Comprehensive 29-test automated DSA verification suite
│   └── Main.java               # Application entry point
├── web/                        # Modern Aerospace HUD Operations Dashboard (Canvas, JS, CSS)
├── build.bat / build.ps1       # One-click compilation scripts
└── run.bat / run.ps1           # Launch scripts

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Quick Start & Running the Project

Prerequisites

• Java SE JDK 17+ (JDK 25 LTS verified).
• No external dependencies, Maven, or Gradle required! Runs 100% out of the box.

1. Compile the Project

.\build.bat

(or via PowerShell: powershell -ExecutionPolicy Bypass -File .\build.ps1)

2. Launch the Web Operations Dashboard (Port 8080)

.\run.bat

Then open your browser at http://localhost:8080.

3. Run in Terminal CLI Mode

.\run.bat --cli

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Interactive Web Radar Dashboard Features

• Interactive Flight Radar: Full zoom and pan across global aeronautical coordinates.
• Dynamic Waypoint Toggling: Click any navigational waypoint to declare it CLOSED (STORM/OUTAGE) and observe instant dynamic detour rerouting in milliseconds.
• Multi-Objective Optimization:
  • Shortest Distance: Minimizes geodesic distance (km).
  • Fastest Route: Leverages real-time wind vectors and jet streams.
  • Lowest Fuel: Optimizes aircraft thrust, payload factor, and turbulence drag.
• Aircraft Profile Customizer: Commercial Jetliner (Boeing 787-9), Cargo Freighter (B747-8), Long-Range UAV Drone (MQ-9 Reaper), and Urban eVTOL.
• Live Flight Simulation: Supersonic jet silhouette animating smoothly along the selected flight corridor with particle afterburner trails and real-time heading angles.
• Search Tree Visualizer: Toggle visual markers showing the exact nodes evaluated by A* versus Dijkstra.

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Automated Test Suite & Benchmarks

Run the complete 29-test automated test suite:

java -cp out com.aerospace.flightpath.test.DsaTestSuite

Benchmark Sample Results:

===============================================================================
                    DSA BENCHMARK: A* vs DIJKSTRA vs BFS                       
===============================================================================
Route Test Case            | A* (Nodes / µs)  | Dijkstra (Nodes / µs) | BFS (Nodes / µs)
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
JFK -> LHR (North Atlantic)| 9 nodes / 140 µs | 28 nodes / 295 µs      | 24 nodes / 85 µs
JFK -> SFO (US Transcont.) | 11 nodes / 95 µs | 34 nodes / 220 µs      | 29 nodes / 65 µs
LHR -> DXB (Eurasia)       | 12 nodes / 115 µs| 36 nodes / 280 µs      | 31 nodes / 75 µs
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Observation: A* with the Great-Circle Haversine heuristic evaluates 3x to 5x fewer nodes
than Dijkstra, proving significant search space reduction while guaranteeing optimal cost!