Problem Solving

Well-formed predicate calculus expressions

provide a means of describing objects and
relations in a problem domain and inference rule.
These inferences define a space that is searched to
find a problem solution.
Questions:
- Is the problem solver guaranteed to find a
solution?
- Will the problem solver always terminate, or can
it become caught in an infinite loop?
- What is the complexity of the search process in
terms of time usage? Space usage?
- How can the interpreted most effectively reduce
search complexity?
- How can an interpreter be designed to most
effectively utilize a representation language?
PROBLEM STATE SPACE GRAPH!

GRAPH
A graph consists of a set of nodes and a set
of arcs and links connecting pairs of nodes.
In the state space model of problem
solving, the nodes of a graph are taken to
represent discrete states in a problem
solving process, such as the results of
logical inferences or configuration of a
game board.
The arcs of the graph represent transitions
between states. These transitions
correspond to logical inferences or legal
moves of a game. In expert systems for
example, states describe our knowledge of
a problem instance at some stage of a
reasoning process. Expert knowledge in the
form of If.. Then.. Else, allows us to
generate new information; the act of
applying a rule is represented as an arc
between states.

The city of Konigsberg

The Austrian mathematician Leonhard Euler
invented graph theory to solve the bridges of
Konigsberg problem. The city of Konigsberg
occupied both banks and two islands of a
river. The islands and the riverbanks were
connected by seven bridges:

RIVERBANK 1

3
ISLAND 1

ISLAND 2
6

RIVERBANK 2

The city of Konigsberg (cont.)

The bridges of Konigsberg problem asks if
there is a walk around the city that crosses
each bridge exactly once! Although the
residents had failed to find such a walk and
doubled that it was possible, no one had
proved its impossibility.
Euler graph theory
rb1: riverbank 1
rb2: riverbank 2
rb1
b2

b4
b3
b1

i1

i2

b6
b7

b5
rb2

The city of Konigsberg (cont.)

The graph representation ignores features such as
distance and direction!
Predicate Calculus:
connect(i1,i2,b1)

connect(i2,i1,b1)

connect(rb1,i1,b2)

connect(i1,rb1,b2)

connect(rb1,i1,b3)

connect(i1,rb1,b3)

connect(rb1,i2,b4)

connect(i2,rb1,b4)

connect(rb2,i1,b5)

connect(i1,rb2,b5)

connect(rb2,i1,b6)

connect(i1,rb2,b6)

connect(rb2,i2,b7)

connect(i2,rb2,b7)

rb1
b2

b4
b3
b1

i1

i2

b6
b7

b5
rb2

A river runs through it!

North Shore

F W
C G
South Shore

A farmer wishes to carry a wolf (the family

pet), a goat and a cabbage across a river,
from the south to the north shore. The
farmer is the proud owner of a small rowing
boat called Bounty which he feels is easily up
to the job.
Unfortunately the boat is only large enough
to carry at most the farmer and one other
item. Worse again, if left unattended the wolf
will eat the goat and the goat will eat the
cabbage. How can the farmer safely
transport the wolf, goat and cabbage to the
opposite shore?

Problem Representation
The key to problem solving is a good
representation. A good representation
scheme has the following properties:

Make important objects and relations

explicit

Suppress unimportant and irrelevant detail

Expose natural constraints

Concise efficiently describe a given

scenario

Complete everything necessary can be

described
Described in English the river problem is
confusing enough to be difficult to solve. It
emphasizes irrelevant detail (the wolf being
a family pet, the name of the boat etc.) and
disguises relevant information (the position
of the objects, etc.)

States & Operators

We can come up with a much better
representation
One way is to think in terms of states. A
state is a description of a system at some
point in time. Many problems can be
formally defined by the following
components:

An initial state

A goal state

An operator set each operator can

transform one state into another
A problem is solved by moving from the
initial state to the goal state by applying
valid operators in sequence this defines
the problem state space, the set of states
reachable from a particular initial state.
A problem solution is simply the set of
operators (actions) needed to reach the
goal state from the initial state

Initial

01
02

03

04

Goal

For Example
Consider again the farmer and his boat. In
this problem state information can be
represented in the form of the following 4tuple
Farmer

Wolf

Goat

Cabbage

a?
b?
c?
d?
)
Each variable position stores the location
of a particular object. For example the
initial state where everyone is on the south
bank is given by (S,S,S,S) while the goal
state is represented by (N,N,N,N). There
are 4 state transforming operators: Farmer-Takes-Self:
(a?,b?,c?,d?) (Opposite(a?), b?,c?,d?)

Farmer-Takes-Wolf:
(a?,b?,c?,d?) (Opposite(a?), Opposite(b?),c?,d?)

Farmer-Takes-Goat:
(a?,b?,c?,d?) (Opposite(a?), b?,Opposite(c?),d?)

Farmer-Takes-Cabbage:
(a?,b?,c?,d?) (Opposite(a?), b?, c?,Opposite( d?))

Finally, a state is safe as long as the wolf

and goat or the goat and cabbage are not
left unattended this precondition each
operator.

Cont..
Here is one 7 step solution to the boating problem. There are of
course other possibilities.

S1: (S,S,S,S)

S2: (N,S,N,S)
F G

N
FWGC
S4: (S,S,N,S)
F W G
C
S5: (S,N,S,S)
W
F G C
S8: (N,N,N,N)
F W G C

W C
S3: (N,N,N,S)
G
F W C
S6: (N,N,S,N)
F W C
G
S7: (S,N,S,N)
W C
F G