SpacePro Ship Simulator

Overview

SpacePro, a cutting-edge rocket manufacturer, has developed a new simulator to track the movements and orientation of their spaceships. This document describes the design and implementation of the simulator which takes a string of commands and returns the final position and orientation of the spaceship. The commands include turning right, turning left, and advancing forward. The simulator uses a coordinate system where the spaceship starts at the origin (0,0) facing upwards.

Function Specification

The main function myspaceship processes a string of commands and calculates the final coordinates and orientation of the spaceship.

Command Descriptions

• R: Turn right (90 degrees clockwise)
• L: Turn left (90 degrees counterclockwise)
• A: Advance in the current direction

Directions

• Up: Initially facing upwards
• Right: 90 degrees right turn from upwards
• Down: 180 degrees turn from upwards
• Left: 270 degrees turn from upwards

Coordinates System

• X-Axis: Increases to the right, decreases to the left
• Y-Axis: Increases upwards, decreases downwards

Function Signature

char* myspaceship(char* flightPath);

• Input: flightPath - A string consisting of commands 'R', 'L', and 'A'.
• Output: A string representing the final position and direction in the format "{x: X, y: Y, direction: 'DIRECTION'}".

Implementation

Steps

1. Initialize Position and Direction:
   • Start at (0, 0).
   • Initial direction is 'up'.
2. Process Commands:
   • Iterate through the command string.
   • Update direction for 'R' and 'L' commands.
   • Update position for 'A' command based on the current direction.
3. Format and Return Result:
   • Return the final position and direction as a formatted string.

Example

For a flight path "RRALAA":

• Initial position: (0, 0), facing up.
• Turn right (R): facing right.
• Turn right (R): facing down.
• Advance (A): move to (0, -1).
• Turn left (L): facing right.
• Advance (A): move to (1, -1).
• Advance (A): move to (2, -1).
• Final position: (2, -1), facing right.
• Output: "{x: 2, y: -1, direction: 'right'}".

Usage

To use the myspaceship function, simply call it with the flight path as a string argument. For example:

#include <stdio.h>

int main() {
    char flightPath[] = "RRALAA";
    char* result = myspaceship(flightPath);
    printf("%s\n", result);
    free(result);
    return 0;
}

This will output:

{x: 2, y: -1, direction: 'right'}

Conclusion

This simulator effectively tracks and outputs the final position and orientation of the spaceship based on a series of movement commands. It is designed to handle an infinite coordinate space and provides clear, formatted results for integration into larger systems or for further processing.