Artificial Intelligence Chapter 3: Problem Solving and Searching

Artificial Intelligence
Problem Solving and Searching

Institute of Information and Communication Technology
University of Sindh, Jamshoro
Dr. Zeeshan Bhatti

BSSW-PIV
Chapter 3
BY:By:DR.Dr.ZEESHAN
ZeeshanBHATTI
Bhatti
Last time: Summary

Definition of AI?
Turing Test?
Intelligent Agents:
Anything that can be viewed as perceiving its environment through
sensors and acting upon that environment through its effectors to
maximize progress towards its goals.
PAGE (Percepts, Actions, Goals, Environment)
Described as a Perception (sequence) to Action Mapping: f : P* A
Using look-up-table, closed form, etc.
Agent Types: Reflex, state-based, goal-based, utility-based

Rational Action: The action that maximizes the expected value of
the performance measure given the percept sequence to date
Outline: Problem solving and search

Introduction to Problem Solving
Complexity
Uninformed search
Problem formulation
Search strategies: depth-first, breadth-first
Informed search
Search strategies: best-first, A*
Heuristic functions
Example: Measuring problem!
9l
3l
5l
Problem: Using these three buckets,

measure 7 liters of water.

(one possible) Solution:
a
0
b
0
c
0
3
0
3
0
3
0
3
1
0
0
0
0
0
0
3
3
5
5
0
3
3
6
6
6
6
6
7
start
goal
9l
3l
a
5l
b

a
0
b
0
c
0
3
0
3
0
3
0
3
1
0
0
0
0
0
0
3
3
5
5
0
3
3
6
6
6
6
6
7
start
goal
9l
3l
a
5l
b

a
0
b
0
c
0
3
0
3
0
3
0
3
1
0
0
0
0
0
0
3
3
5
5
0
3
3
6
6
6
6
6
7
start
goal
9l
3l
a
5l
b

a
0
b
0
c
0
3
0
3
0
3
0
3
1
0
0
0
0
0
0
3
3
5
5
0
3
3
6
6
6
6
6
7
start
goal
9l
3l
a
5l
b

a
0
b
0
c
0
3
0
3
0
3
0
3
1
0
0
0
0
0
0
3
3
5
5
0
3
3
6
6
6
6
6
7
start
goal
9l
3l
a
5l
b

a
0
b
0
c
0
3
0
3
0
3
0
3
1
0
0
0
0
0
0
3
3
5
5
0
3
3
6
6
6
6
6
7
start
goal
9l
3l
a
5l
b

a
0
b
0
c
0
3
0
3
0
3
0
3
1
0
0
0
0
0
0
3
3
5
5
0
3
3
6
6
6
6
6
7
start
goal
9l
3l
a
5l
b

a
0
b
0
c
0
3
0
3
0
3
0
3
1
0
0
0
0
0
0
3
3
5
5
0
3
3
6
6
6
6
6
7
start
goal
9l
3l
a
5l
b

a
0
b
0
c
0
3
0
3
0
3
0
3
1
0
0
0
0
0
0
3
3
5
5
0
3
3
6
6
6
6
6
7
start
goal
9l
3l
a
5l
b

a
0
b
0
c
0
3
0
3
0
3
0
3
1
0
0
0
0
0
0
3
3
5
5
0
3
3
6
6
6
6
6
7
start
goal
9l
3l
a
5l
b

Another Solution:
a
0
3
0
3
0
3
1
0
0
0
0
0
3
3
5
5
3
3
6
6
6
6
6
7
start
goal
9l
3l
a
5l
b

Another Solution:
a
0
b
0
c
0
0
3
0
3
0
3
0
3
1
0
5
2
0
0
0
0
3
3
5
5
0
0
3
3
6
6
6
6
6
7
start
goal
9l
3l
a
5l
b

Another Solution:
a
0
b
0
c
0
0
3
3
3
0
3
0
3
1
0
5
2
0
0
0
0
3
3
5
5
0
0
2
3
6
6
6
6
6
7
start
goal
9l
3l
a
5l
b

Another Solution:
a
0
b
0
c
0
0
3
3
3
0
3
0
3
1
0
5
2
0
5
0
0
3
3
5
5
0
0
2
2
6
6
6
6
6
7
start
goal
9l
3l
a
5l
b

Another Solution:
a
0
b
0
c
0
0
3
3
3
3
5
2
0
5
0
0
0
2
2
7
3
0
3
1
0
0
3
3
5
5
6
6
6
6
7
start
goal
goal
9l
3l
a
5l
b
Which solution do we prefer?

Solution 1:
Solution 2:
0
3
3
3
3
5
2
0
5
0
0
0
2
2
7
start
start
3
0
3
0
3
0
3
1
0
goal
0
0
0
0
0
3
3
5
5
0
3
3
6
6
6
6
6
7
goal
DZB1
Problem Solving Agents

Intelligent agents are supposed to maximize
their performance measure.
Achieving this is sometimes simplified if the
agent can adopt a goal and aim at satisfying it.
Goal formulation, based on the current situation
and the agents performance measure, is the first
step in problem solving.
Slide 21
DZB1
Dr. Zeeshan Bhatti, 14/3/2016
Example: Romania
Example: Romania
Problem-Solving Agent
Restricted form of general agent:
action
// What is the current state?

// From LA to San Diego (given curr. state)
// e.g., Gas usage
// If fails to reach goal, update
Note: This is offline problem-solving. Online problem-solving involves

acting w/o complete knowledge of the problem and environment
Example: Buckets
Measure 7 liters of water using a 3-liter, a 5-liter, and a 9liter buckets.
Formulate goal: Have 7 liters of water
in 9-liter bucket
Formulate problem:
States:
amount of water in the buckets
Operators:
Fill bucket from source, empty bucket
Find solution:
state
sequence of operators that bring you

from current state to the goal
Problem types
Problem types
Single-state problem:
deterministic, accessible
Agent knows everything about world, thus can

calculate optimal action sequence to reach goal state.
Multiple-state problem:
deterministic, inaccessible
Agent must reason about sequences of actions and

states assumed while working towards goal state.
Contingency problem:
nondeterministic, inaccessible
Must use sensors during execution

Solution is a tree or policy
Often interleave search and execution
Exploration problem:
unknown state space
Discover and learn about environment while taking actions.
Problem types
Single-state problem:
deterministic, accessible
Agent knows everything about world (the exact state),

Can calculate optimal action sequence to reach goal state.
E.g., playing chess. Any action will result in an exact state
Problem types
Multiple-state problem:
deterministic, inaccessible
Agent does not know the exact state (could be in any of the
possible states)
May not have sensor at all
Assume states while working towards goal state.

E.g., walking in a dark room
If you are at the door, going straight will lead you to the kitchen
If you are at the kitchen, turning left leads you to the bedroom
Problem types
Contingency problem: nondeterministic, inaccessible
Must use sensors during execution
Solution is a tree or policy
Often interleave search and execution
E.g., a new skater in an arena

Sliding problem.
Many skaters around
Problem types
Exploration problem: unknown state space
Discover and learn about environment while

taking actions.
E.g., Maze
Example: Vacuum world

Simplified world: 2 locations, each may or not contain dirt,
each may or not contain vacuuming agent.
Goal of agent: clean up the dirt.
Example: vacuum world

Single-state, start in #5.
Solution?
By: Dr. Zeeshan Bhatti
34

Single-state, start in #5.
Solution? [Right, Suck]
Multiple State or Sensorless,

start in {1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8} e.g.,
Right goes to {2,4,6,8}
Solution?
35
Sensorless, start in
{1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8} e.g.,
Solution?
[Right,Suck,Left,Suck]
Contingency
Nondeterministic: Suck may
dirty a clean carpet
Partially observable: location, dirt at current location.
Percept: [L, Clean], i.e., start in #5 or #7
Solution?
36
Sensorless, start in
{1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8} e.g.,
Solution?
[Right,Suck,Left,Suck]
Contingency
Nondeterministic: Suck may
dirty a clean carpet
Partially observable: location, dirt at current location.
Percept: [L, Clean], i.e., start in #5 or #7
Solution? [Right, if dirt then Suck]

37
Single-state problem formulation

A problem is defined by four items:
1. initial state e.g., "at Arad"
2. actions or successor function S(x) = set of actionstate pairs
e.g., S(Arad) = {<Arad Zerind, Zerind>, }
3. goal test, can be
explicit, e.g., x = "at Bucharest"

implicit, e.g., Checkmate(x)
4. path cost (additive)
e.g., sum of distances, number of actions executed, etc.

c(x,a,y) is the step cost, assumed to be 0
A solution is a sequence of actions leading from the initial state to a

goal state
38
Selecting a state space

Real world is absurdly complex
state space must be abstracted for problem solving
(Abstract) state = set of real states

(Abstract) action = complex combination of real actions
e.g., "Arad Zerind" represents a complex set of possible routes, detours,
rest stops, etc.
For guaranteed realizability, any real state "in Arad must get to some
real state "in Zerind"
(Abstract) solution =
set of real paths that are solutions in the real world
Each abstract action should be "easier" than the original problem
39
Vacuum world state space graph
states?
actions?
goal test?
path cost?
40
Vacuum world state space graph
states? integer dirt and robot location

actions? Left, Right, Suck
goal test? no dirt at all locations
path cost? 1 per action
41
Example: The 8-puzzle
states?
actions?
goal test?
path cost?
42
Example: The 8-puzzle
states? locations of tiles

actions? move blank left, right, up, down
goal test? = goal state (given)
path cost? 1 per move
43
[Note: optimal solution of n-Puzzle family is NP-hard]
Example: robotic assembly
states?: real-valued coordinates of robot joint angles parts of

the object to be assembled
actions?: continuous motions of robot joints
goal test?: complete assembly
path cost?: time to execute
44
Tree search algorithms

Basic idea:
offline, simulated exploration of state space by generating
successors of already-explored states (a.k.a.~expanding
states)
45
Example: Romania
In Romania, on vacation. Currently in Arad.
Flight leaves tomorrow from Bucharest.
Formulate goal:
be in Bucharest
Formulate problem:
states: various cities
operators: drive between cities
Find solution:
sequence of cities, such that total driving distance is
minimized.
Example: Traveling from Arad To Bucharest
Tree search example
48
Tree search example
49
Tree search example
50
Implementation: general tree search
51
Implementation: states vs. nodes

A state is a (representation of) a physical configuration
A node is a data structure constituting part of a search tree
includes state, parent node, action, path cost g(x), depth
The Expand function creates new nodes, filling in the

various fields and using the SuccessorFn of the problem to
create the corresponding states.

52
Search strategies
A search strategy is defined by picking the order of node
expansion
Strategies are evaluated along the following dimensions:
completeness: does it always find a solution if one exists?

time complexity: number of nodes generated
space complexity: maximum number of nodes in memory
optimality: does it always find a least-cost solution?
Time and space complexity are measured in terms of

b: maximum branching factor of the search tree
d: depth of the least-cost solution
m: maximum depth of the state space (may be )
53
Binary Tree Example
Depth = 0
root
Depth = 1
Depth = 2
N1
N3
N2
N4
N5
N6
Number of nodes: n = 2 max depth

Number of levels (max depth) = log(n) (could be n)
Uninformed search strategies

Uninformed search strategies use only the
information available in the problem definition
Breadth-first search
Uniform-cost search
Depth-first search
Depth-limited search
55
Expand shallowest unexpanded node
Implementation:
fringe is a FIFO queue, i.e., new successors go at end
56
Implementation:
57
Implementation:
58
Implementation:
59
Properties of breadth-first search

Complete? Yes (if b is finite)
Time? 1+b+b2+b3+ +bd + b(bd-1) = O(bd+1)
Space? O(bd+1) (keeps every node in memory)
Optimal? Yes (if cost = 1 per step)
Space is the bigger

problem (more than time)
60
Uniform-cost search
Expand least-cost unexpanded node
Implementation:
fringe = queue ordered by path cost
Equivalent to breadth-first if step costs all equal
Complete? Yes, if step cost
Time? # of nodes with g cost of optimal solution,

O(bceiling(C*/ )) where C* is the cost of the optimal solution
Space? # of nodesBy:
with
g cost of optimal solution,
Dr. Zeeshan Bhatti
61
ceiling(C*/
)
O(b
)
Depth-first search
Expand deepest unexpanded node
Implementation:
fringe = LIFO queue, i.e., put successors at front
62
Depth-first search
Implementation:
63
Depth-first search
Implementation:
64
Depth-first search
Implementation:
65
Depth-first search
Implementation:
66
Depth-first search
Implementation:
67
Depth-first search
Implementation:
68
Depth-first search
Implementation:
69
Depth-first search
Implementation:
70
Depth-first search
Implementation:
71
Depth-first search
Implementation:
72
Depth-first search
Implementation:
73
Properties of depth-first search

Complete? No: fails in infinite-depth spaces, spaces
with loops
Modify to avoid repeated states along path
complete in finite spaces
Time? O(bm): terrible if m is much larger than d

but if solutions are dense, may be much faster than
breadth-first
Space? O(bm), i.e., linear space!

Optimal? No
74
Depth-limited search
= depth-first search with depth limit l,
i.e., nodes at depth l have no successors
Recursive implementation:
75
Iterative deepening search
76
Iterative deepening search l =0
77
78
79
80
Iterative deepening search

Number of nodes generated in a depth-limited search to
depth d with branching factor b:
NDLS = b0 + b1 + b2 + + bd-2 + bd-1 + bd
Number of nodes generated in an iterative deepening search
to depth d with branching factor b:
NIDS = (d+1)b0 + d b^1 + (d-1)b^2 + + 3bd-2 +2bd-1 + 1bd
For b = 10, d = 5,
NDLS = 1 + 10 + 100 + 1,000 + 10,000 + 100,000 = 111,111
NIDS = 6 + 50 + 400 + 3,000 + 20,000 + 100,000 = 123,456

81
Properties of iterative
deepening search
Complete? Yes
Time? (d+1)b0 + d b1 + (d-1)b2 + + bd = O(bd)
Space? O(bd)
Optimal? Yes, if step cost = 1
82
Summary of algorithms
83
Repeated states
Failure to detect repeated states can turn a linear
problem into an exponential one!
84
Graph search
85
Summary
Problem formulation usually requires abstracting away realworld details to define a state space that can feasibly be
explored
Variety of uninformed search strategies
Iterative deepening search uses only linear space and not
much more time than other uninformed algorithms
86
Complexity
Why worry about complexity of algorithms?
because a problem may be solvable in principle but may
take too long to solve in practice
Complexity
Why worry about complexity of algorithms?

because a problem may be solvable in principle
but may take too long to solve in practice
How can we evaluate the complexity of
algorithms?
through asymptotic analysis, i.e., estimate time
(or number of operations) necessary to solve an
instance of size n of a problem when n tends
towards infinity
.
Complexity example: Traveling Salesman Problem

There are n cities, with a road of length Lij joining
city i to city j.
The salesman wishes to find a way to visit all cities that
is optimal in two ways:
each city is visited only once, and
the total route is as short as possible.
Complexity example: Traveling Salesman Problem
This is a hard problem: the only known algorithms (so far)

to solve it have exponential complexity, that is, the number
of operations required to solve it grows as exp(n) for n
cities.
Why is exponential complexity hard?

It means that the number of operations necessary to
compute the exact solution of the problem grows
exponentially with the size of the problem (here, the
number of cities).
exp(1)
= 2.72
exp(10)
= 2.20 104 (daily salesman trip)
exp(100)
= 2.69 1043 (monthly salesman planning)
exp(500)
= 1.40 10217 (music band worldwide tour)
exp(250,000) = 10108,573
(fedex, postal services)
Fastest
computer
= 1012
operations/second
So
In general, exponential-complexity problems cannot be
solved for any but the smallest instances!

Artificial Intelligence Chapter 3: Problem Solving and Searching

Загружено:

Сведения о документе

Авторское право

Доступные форматы

Поделиться этим документом

Поделиться или встроить документ

Параметры публикации

Этот документ был вам полезен?

Это неприемлемый материал?

Авторское право:

Доступные форматы

Artificial Intelligence Chapter 3: Problem Solving and Searching

Загружено:

Авторское право:

Доступные форматы

Artificial Intelligence

Problem Solving and Searching

Dr. Zeeshan Bhatti

Last time: Summary

Agent Types: Reflex, state-based, goal-based, utility-based

Outline: Problem solving and search

Example: Measuring problem!

Problem: Using these three buckets,

Example: Measuring problem!

Example: Measuring problem!

Example: Measuring problem!

Example: Measuring problem!

Example: Measuring problem!

Example: Measuring problem!

Example: Measuring problem!

Example: Measuring problem!

Example: Measuring problem!

Example: Measuring problem!

Example: Measuring problem!

Example: Measuring problem!

Example: Measuring problem!

Example: Measuring problem!

Example: Measuring problem!

Which solution do we prefer?

Problem Solving Agents

Dr. Zeeshan Bhatti, 14/3/2016

// What is the current state?

// If fails to reach goal, update

Note: This is offline problem-solving. Online problem-solving involves

sequence of operators that bring you

Agent knows everything about world, thus can

Agent must reason about sequences of actions and

Must use sensors during execution

unknown state space

Discover and learn about environment while taking actions.

Agent knows everything about world (the exact state),

E.g., playing chess. Any action will result in an exact state

Assume states while working towards goal state.

E.g., a new skater in an arena

Discover and learn about environment while

Example: Vacuum world

Example: vacuum world

By: Dr. Zeeshan Bhatti

Example: vacuum world

Multiple State or Sensorless,

Example: vacuum world

Example: vacuum world

Solution? [Right, if dirt then Suck]

Single-state problem formulation

e.g., S(Arad) = {<Arad Zerind, Zerind>, }

3. goal test, can be

explicit, e.g., x = "at Bucharest"

4. path cost (additive)

e.g., sum of distances, number of actions executed, etc.

A solution is a sequence of actions leading from the initial state to a

Selecting a state space

(Abstract) state = set of real states

Each abstract action should be "easier" than the original problem

Vacuum world state space graph

Vacuum world state space graph

states? integer dirt and robot location

Example: The 8-puzzle

Example: The 8-puzzle

states? locations of tiles