bmp image reading

m very new to C and need the best help please! my project is to read a bmp image which has different colour regions. we need to input the starting point and destination point of a small bot which travels with different speeds in different color regions. it has to traverse the image in least possible time. its actually an example of A start algorithm implementation in C language. anybody can please help me on how to read a bmp image first? and maybe the whole program?? http://www.vbforums.com/images/smilies/smile.gif