ARTIFICIAL

INTELLIGENCE

Chapter 5: Solving problems by

searching
Outline
• Problem-solving agents
• Problem types
• Problem formulation
• Example problems
• Basic search algorithms

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 The 8-puzzle

2 8 3 1 2 3

1 6 4 8 4

7 5 7 6 5

Start Goal

How do we goal from start configuration to the

goal configuration?
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 The corresponding search tree
2 8 3
1 6 4
7 5

2 8 3 2 8 3 2 8 3
1 6 4 1 4 1 6 4
7 5 7 6 5 7 5

2 8 3 2 8 3 2 3 2 8 3
6 4 1 4 1 8 4 1 6 4
1 7 5 7 6 5 7 6 5 7 5
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Toy Problems and Real Problems
• 8-puzzle
• Farmer, wolf, goat, and cabbage problem
• Vacuum World
• Crypt arithmetic
• The water jug problem
• Missionaries and Cannibals
• Towers of Hanoi
• 8-queens

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 Problem Solving terms:
• World State – values of all features of interest in the world.
• State Space – the set of all possible world states.
• Operators – change one state into another; cost of applying operator.
• Goal – An (often partial) world state or states; in an agent, often implemented as a
function of state and current percept.
• Initial State – The values of attributes that are in effect at the beginning of a
problem before any operators have been applied.
• Note: The states and the operators define a directed (possibly weighted) graph.

• Solution (path) – a sequence of operators leading from the

initial state to a goal state.
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• Path cost – e.g. sum of distances, number of operators executed…
 Example: The 8-puzzle

2 8 3 1 2 3
1 6 4 8 4
7 5 7 6 5
Start Goal
• States: 3x3 array of integer values
• Operators: Move tile number i left, right, up, down
• Goal Test: goal state (given)
• Path Cost: 1 per move
• Constraints: Can only move in a direction if that space is empty

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 Example: The 8-puzzle

2 8 3 1 2 3
1 6 4 8 4
7 5 7 6 5
Start Goal
• States: Integer location of tiles (ignore intermediate positions)
• Operators: Move blank left, right, up, down
• Goal Test: goal state (given)
• Path Cost: 1 per move
Can only move blank in a direction if it stays in puzzle
• Constraints:

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Example: The 8-puzzle
1 2 3 2 8 3 1 2 3
4 5 6 1 6 4 8 4
7 8 9 7 5 7 6 5
Start Goal

Initial State = [2, 8, 3, 1, 6, 4, 7, B, 5]

Misplaced tiles = [4]
Total Distance = [1 + 2 + 0 + 1 + 1 + 0 + 0 + 0]=5
Goal State = [1, 2, 3, 8, B 4, 7, 6, 5]

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 Class Work: The 8-Puzzle

5 4 1 2 3

Goal
Start
6 1 8 8 4
7 3 2 7 6 5

Misplaced tiles = ?
Total Distance = ?

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 Class Work: the 8-Puzzle

5 1 4 1 2 3

Goal
Start
6 8 8 4
7 3 2 7 6 5

Misplaced tiles = [7]

Total Distance = [4 + 2 + 2+ 2 + 2 + 0+ 3 + 3] = 18

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 • The Wolf, Goat, and Cabbage
Brain Teasers

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 This problem can be found in eighth century texts.
A man has to take a wolf, a goat, and some cabbage
across a river. His rowboat has enough room for the
man plus either the wolf or the goat or the cabbage. If
he takes the cabbage with him, the wolf will eat the
goat. If he takes the wolf, the goat will eat the
cabbage. Only when the man is present are the goat
and the cabbage safe from their enemies. All the
same, the man carries wolf, goat, and cabbage
across the river. How?
Puzzle provided by Kordem sky: The Moscow
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 Farmer, wolf, goat, and cabbage problem

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 State space graph
F, W, G, C

FW

FG FC

FW

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 Water Jugs Problem
• You are given:
• a spigot,
• a 3 Gallon jug,
• a 4 Gallon jug.

• The goal: Get 2 gallons of water in the 4 gallon jug.

• Actions: Filling jugs from spigot, dumping water in jugs onto

ground, dumping 4 gallon into 3 gallon jug until 3 gallon jug is full.
Dumping 3 gallon jug into 4 gallon jug until empty or until 4 gallon is
full, etc, etc.

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Water Jugs
• States: How full are the • Initial State:
two jugs? 4G = 0
3G=0
• State Representation:
4G = ? • Goal State:
3G = ? 4G=2

• Constraints:
0  4G  4
0  3G  3
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Operators
• F3: Fill the 3 Gallon jug from the tap.
• F4: Fill the 4 Gallon jug from the tap.
• E4: Empty the 4-Gallon jug on the ground.
• P43: Pour water from 4G jug into the 3G jug until 3G jug is
full.
• P34: Pour water from 3G jug into the 4G jug until 4G jug is full
or 3G is empty.

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Solution Path
• Initial State Goal State?

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 Partial State Graph And Solution Path

• F3: Fill the 3 Gallon jug

from the tap.
• F4: Fill the 4 Gallon jug
from the tap.
• E4: Empty the 4-Gallon jug
on the ground.
• P43: Pour water from 4G
jug into the 3G jug until 3G
jug is full.
• P34: Pour water from 3G
jug into the 4G jug until 4G
jug is full or 3G is empty.
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 Class Work: Water Jugs
• You are given:
• a spigot,
• a 3 Gallon jug,
• a 5 Gallon jug.

• The goal: Get 2 gallons of water in the 5 gallon jug.

• Actions: Filling jugs from spigot, dumping water in jugs onto

ground, dumping 5 gallon into 3 gallon jug until 3 gallon jug is full.
Dumping 3 gallon jug into 5 gallon jug until empty or until 5 gallon
is full, etc, etc.

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Missionaries and cannibals

• Three missionaries and three cannibals are on the left bank of

a river.

• There is one canoe which can hold one or two people.

• Find a way to get everyone to the right bank, without ever

leaving a group of missionaries in one place outnumbered by
cannibals in that place.

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Missionaries and cannibals
• States: three numbers (i,j,k) representing the number of missionaries,
cannibals, and canoe s on the left bank of the river.

• Initial state: (3, 3, 1)

• Operators: take one missionary, one cannibal, two missionaries, two cannibals,
one missionary and one cannibal across the river in a given direction (I.e. ten
operators).

• Goal Test: reached state (0, 0, 0)

• Path Cost: Number of crossings.

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 Missionaries and Cannibals
(3,3,1) (0,0,0)

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 Missionaries and Cannibals
A missionary and cannibal cross

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 Missionaries and Cannibals
(2,2,0) (1,1,1)

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 Missionaries and Cannibals
One missionary returns

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 Missionaries and Cannibals
(3,2,1) (0,1,0)

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 Missionaries and Cannibals
Two cannibals cross

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 Missionaries and Cannibals
(3,0,0) (0,3,1)

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 Missionaries and Cannibals
A cannibal returns

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 Missionaries and Cannibals
(3,1,1) (0,2,0)

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 Missionaries and Cannibals
Two missionaries cross

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 Missionaries and Cannibals
(1,1,0) (2,2,1)

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 Missionaries and Cannibals
A missionary and cannibal return

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 Missionaries and Cannibals
(2,2,1) (1,1,0)

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 Missionaries and Cannibals
Two Missionaries cross

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 Missionaries and Cannibals
(0,2,0) (3,1,1)

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 Missionaries and Cannibals
A cannibal returns

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 Missionaries and Cannibals
(0,3,1) (3,0,0)

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 Missionaries and Cannibals
Two cannibals cross

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 Missionaries and Cannibals
(0,1,0) (3,2,1)

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 Missionaries and Cannibals
A cannibal returns

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 Missionaries and Cannibals
(0,2,1) (3,1,0)

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 Missionaries and Cannibals
The last two cannibals cross

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 Missionaries and Cannibals
(0,0,0) (3,3,1)

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 Class Work:
4 Missionaries and 4 Cannibals
(4,4,1) (0,0,0)

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Chapter 6
Search Methods

Uninformed & Informed

search
 Problem types
• Deterministic, fully observable  single-state problem
• Agent knows exactly which state it will be in; solution is a sequence
•
• Non-observable  sensor less problem (conformant problem)
• Agent may have no idea where it is; solution is a sequence
•
• Nondeterministic and/or partially observable  contingency or
stability problem
• percepts provide new information about current state
• often interleave} search, execution
• Unknown state space  exploration problem

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 Example: House Cleaning
Single-state, start in
#5. Solution?
•

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Example: House Cleaning
Single-state, start in #5.
Solution? [Right, Suck]
•

Sensorless, start in
{1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8} e.g.,
Right goes to {2,4,6,8}
Solution?
•

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Example: House Cleaning
• Sensorless, start in
{1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8} e.g.,
Right goes to {2,4,6,8}
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?

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 Example: House Cleaning

• Sensorless, start in
{1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8} e.g.,
Right goes to {2,4,6,8}
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]

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 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
•
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Vacuum world state space graph

• states?
• actions?
• goal test?
• path cost?
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•
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

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Vacuum world state space graph

• states: 2*22 =8
• Initial state: Any state can be designated
• Successor function: legal states (Left, Right and suck)
• Goal test: All squares clean
• path cost: 1 per action
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Problem-solving agents
• Goal Formulation: Before agent can start searching for
solutions, it must formulate a goal and then use it to
formulate a problem

• Problem formulation: deciding what actions and states to

consider for a given goal
• Search: process of looking for such a sequence

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Problem-solving agents

• Step cost: sum of costs of the individual actions

along the path

i,e., c(x,a,b)≥0

cost (Bosaso,action,Armo)=100

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 A Toy Example: A Romanian Holiday

• State space: Cities in Romania

• Initial state: Town of Arad
• Goal: Airport in Bucharest
• Operators: Drive between cities
• Solution: Sequence of cities
• Path cost: Number of cities,
distance, time, fuel

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