CS:4420 Artificial Intelligence

Spring 2018

Problem Solving by Search

Cesare Tinelli

The University of Iowa

Copyright 2004–18, Cesare Tinelli and Stuart Russell a

a These notes were originally developed by Stuart Russell and are used with permission. They are
copyrighted material and may not be used in other course settings outside of the University of Iowa in their
current or modified form without the express written consent of the copyright holders.

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 Readings

• Chap. 3 of [Russell and Norvig, 2012]

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 Example: Romania
Problem: On holiday in Romania; currently in Arad. Flight leaves
tomorrow from Bucharest. Find a short route to drive to Bucharest.

Formulate problem:
states: various cities
actions: drive between cities

Formulate goal:
be in Bucarest

Formulate solution:
sequence of cities (eg, Arad, Sibiu, Fagaras, Bucharest)

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 Romania’s map
Oradea
71
Neamt

Zerind 87
75 151
Iasi
Arad 140
92
Sibiu Fagaras
99
118 Vaslui
80
Timisoara Rimnicu Vilcea

142
111 Pitesti 211
Lugoj 97
70 98
146 85 Hirsova
Mehadia 101 Urziceni
75 138 86
Bucharest
Dobreta 120
90
Craiova Eforie
Giurgiu

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 Problem-solving agents
Restricted form of general agent:

function Simple-Problem-Solving-Agent( percept) returns an action

static: seq, an action sequence, initially empty
state, some description of the current world state
goal, a goal, initially null
problem, a problem formulation

state ← Update-State(state, percept)

if seq is empty then
goal ← Formulate-Goal(state)
problem ← Formulate-Problem(state, goal)
seq ← Search( problem)
action ← Recommendation(seq, state)
seq ← Remainder(seq, state)
return action

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 Problem-solving agents
Restricted form of general agent:

function Simple-Problem-Solving-Agent( percept) returns an action

static: seq, an action sequence, initially empty
state, some description of the current world state
goal, a goal, initially null
problem, a problem formulation

state ← Update-State(state, percept)

if seq is empty then
goal ← Formulate-Goal(state)
problem ← Formulate-Problem(state, goal)
seq ← Search( problem)
action ← Recommendation(seq, state)
seq ← Remainder(seq, state)
return action

Note: this is offline problem solving; solution executed “eyes closed.”

Online problem solving involves acting without complete knowledge.
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 Problem Types
• Deterministic, fully observable environment =⇒ single-state
problem
• Agent knows exactly which state it will be in
• Solution is a sequence of actions

• Non-observable environment =⇒ conformant problem

• Agent know it may be in any of a number of states
• Solution, if any, is a sequence of actions

• Nondeterministic and/or partially observable environment =⇒

contingency problem
• Percepts provide new information about current state
• Solution is a tree or policy
• Often interleave search and execution

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 Problem Types (cont.)
• Unknown state space =⇒ exploration problem (“online”)

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 Example: Vacuum World
Single-state problem
initial state = 5
goal states = {7, 8}
Solution?

1 2

3 4

5 6

7 8

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 Example: Vacuum World
Single-state problem
initial state = 5
goal states = {7, 8}
Solution? [Right, Suck ]

1 2

3 4

5 6

7 8

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 Example: Vacuum World
Conformant problem, initial state = {1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8}
Right =⇒ {2, 4, 6, 8}, Left =⇒ {1, 3, 5, 7}, Suck =⇒ {4, 5, 7, 8}
Solution?

1 2

3 4

5 6

7 8

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 Example: Vacuum World
Conformant problem, initial state = {1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8}
Right =⇒ {2, 4, 6, 8}, Left =⇒ {1, 3, 5, 7}, Suck =⇒ {4, 5, 7, 8}
Solution? [Right, Suck , Left , Suck ]

1 2

3 4

5 6

7 8

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 Example: Vacuum World
Contingency problem, initial state = 5
Suck occasionally fails. Local sensing: dirt, location.
Solution?

1 2

3 4

5 6

7 8

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 Example: Vacuum World
Contingency problem, initial state = 5
Suck occasionally fails. Local sensing: dirt, location.
Solution? [Right, if dirt then Suck ]

1 2

3 4

5 6

7 8

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 Problem Solving
We start by considering the simpler cases in which the environment is
fully observable, static and deterministic

In such environments the following holds for an agent A:

• A’s world is representable by a discrete set of states

• A’s actions are representable by a discrete set of operators

• the next world state is completely determined by the current

state and A’s actions
• the world’s state transitions are caused exclusively by A’s actions

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 Single-state Problem Formulation
Formally, a problem is defined by four components:
• An initial state (eg, In(Arad))
• A successor function S returning sets of action–state pairs
(eg, S(Arad) = {hGoT o(Zerind), In(Zerind)i, . . .})
• A goal test, explicit (eg, x = In(Bucharest)) or
implicit, (eg, N oDirt(x))
• A path cost
(eg, sum of distances, number of actions executed, . . . ) Usually
additive and given as c(x, a, y), the step cost from x to y by
action a, assumed to be ≥ 0
A solution is a sequence of actions leading from the initial state to a
goal state

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 Selecting a State Space
Since the real world is absurdly complex the state space must be
abstracted for problem solving.
• Abstract state = set of real states

• (Abstract) action = complex combination of real actions eg,

GoT o(Zerind) from Arad represents a complex set of possible
routes, detours, rest stops, etc.
• For guaranteed realizability, any real state corresponding to
In(Arad) must get to some real state corresponding to
In(Zerind)
• Each abstract action should be “easier” than the original
problem!
• (Abstract) solution = set of real paths that are solutions in the
real world

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Example: vacuum world state space graph
R
L R

S S

R R
L R L R

L L
S S
S S

R
L R

S S

States?
Actions?
Goal test?
Path cost?

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Example: vacuum world state space graph
R
L R

S S

R R
L R L R

L L
S S
S S

R
L R

S S

States? hdirt flag, robot locationi (ignore dirt amount)

Actions? Left , Right , Suck , NoOp
Goal test? ¬dirty
Path cost? 1 per action (0 for NoOp )

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Formulating Problem as a Labeled Graph
In the graph
• each node represents a possible state

• a node is designated as the initial state

• one or more nodes represent goal states, states in which the

agent’s goal is considered accomplished
• each edge represents a state transition caused by a specific agent
action
• associated to each edge is the cost of performing that transition

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 Search Graph
How do we reach a goal state?
initial state 4 C
4
A B
3
7
S 5 5
F
2
goal states

4
D E G
2 3
There may be several possible ways. Or none!
Factors to consider:
• cost of finding a path
• cost of traversing a path

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 Problem Solving as Search
Search space: set of states reachable from an initial state S0 via a
(possibly empty/finite/infinite) sequence of state transitions

To achieve the problem’s goal

1. search the space for a (ideally optimal) sequence of transitions
starting from S0 and leading to a goal state
2. execute (in order) the actions associated to each transition in the
identified sequence

For contingency problems, two steps above need to be interleaved

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Example: The 8-puzzle

2 8 3
1 6 4
7 5

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 Example: The 8-puzzle
Problem: Go from state S to state G.
2 8 3 1 2 3
1 6 4 8 4
7 5 7 6 5
(S) (G)

2 8 3
1 6 4
7 5
L
R
D U
L R
2 8 3 2 8 3 2 8 3
1 6 4 1 4 1 6 4
7 5 7 6 5 L 7 5
R
D U D U D U
L R
2 8 3 2 8 3 2 3 2 8 3 2 8 3
6 4 1 4 1 8 4 1 4 1 6
1 7 5 7 6 5 7 6 5 7 6 5 7 5 4

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 Example: The 8-puzzle

States: configurations of tiles

Operators: move one tile Up/Down/Left/Right

Note:
• There are 9! = 362, 880 possible states: all permutations of
{0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8} where 0 is the empty space
• Not all states are directly reachable from a given state

How can an artificial agent represent the states and the state space for
this problem?

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 Problem Formulation
1. Choose an appropriate data structure to represent the world
states

2. Define each operator as a precondition/effects pair where the

• precondition holds exactly in the states the operator is
applicable to
• effects describe how a state changes into a successor state
by the application of the operator

3. Specify an initial state

4. Provide a description of the goal—to check if a reached state is

a goal state

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 Formulating the 8-puzzle Problem

States: each represented by a 3 × 3 array of numbers in [0 . . . 8],

where value 0 is for the empty cell

2 8 3 2 8 3
1 6 4 becomes A= 1 6 4
7 5 7 0 5

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 Formulating the 8-puzzle Problem
• Operators: 24 operators of the form OP r,c,d
where r, c ∈ {1, 2, 3}, d ∈ {L, R, U, D}
• If the empty space is at position (r, c), OP r,c,d moves it in
direction d

Example:

2 8 3 2 8 3
OP 3,2,L
1 6 4 =⇒ 1 6 4
7 0 5 0 7 5

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 Preconditions and Effects
Example: OP 3,2,R

2 8 3 2 8 3
OP 3,2,R
1 6 4 =⇒ 1 6 4
7 0 5 7 5 0

Preconditions: A[3, 2] = 0
(
A[3, 2] ← A[3, 3]
Effects:
A[3, 3] ← 0

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 Preconditions and Effects
Example: OP 3,2,R

2 8 3 2 8 3
OP 3,2,R
1 6 4 =⇒ 1 6 4
7 0 5 7 5 0

Preconditions: A[3, 2] = 0
(
A[3, 2] ← A[3, 3]
Effects:
A[3, 3] ← 0

We have 24 operators in this problem formulation . . . 20 too many!

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 A Better Formulation

States: each represented by a pair (A, (i, j)) where:

• A is a 3 × 3 array of numbers in [0 . . . 8]
• (i, j) is the position of the empty space (0) in the array

2 8 3 2 8 3
1 6 4 becomes ( 1 6 4 , (3, 2) )
7 5 7 0 5

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 A Better Formulation

Operators: 4 operators of the form OP d where d ∈ {L, R, U, D}

OP d moves the empty space in the direction d

Example:

2 8 3 2 8 3
OP
( 1 6 4 , (3, 2) ) =⇒L ( 1 6 4 , (3, 1) )
7 0 5 0 7 5

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 Preconditions and Effects
Example: OP L

2 8 3 2 8 3
OP
( 1 6 4 , (3, 2) ) =⇒L ( 1 6 4 , (3, 1) )
7 0 5 0 7 5

Let (r0 , c0 ) be the position of 0 in A

Preconditions: c0 > 1

 A[r0 , c0 ]
 ← A[r0 , c0 − 1]
Effects: A[r0 , c0 − 1] ← 0

(r0 , c0 ) ← (r0 , c0 − 1)


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The Water Jugs Problem

3gl 4gl

Get exactly 2 gallons of water into the 4gl jug

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 The Water Jugs Problem
States: Determined by the amount of water in each jug

State Representation: Two real-valued variables, J3 , J4 , indicating

the amount of water in the two jugs, with the constraints:

0 ≤ J3 ≤ 3, 0 ≤ J4 ≤ 4

Initial State Description

J3 = 0, J4 = 0

Goal State Description:

J4 = 2 (non exhaustive description)

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 The Water Jugs Problem: Operators
E4: empty jug4 on the ground
precond: J4 > 0 effect: J4′ = 0
E4-3: pour water from jug4 into jug3 until jug3 is full
precond: J3 < 3, effect: J3′ = 3,
J4 ≥ 3 − J3 J4′ = J4 − (3 − J3 )
P3-4: pour water from jug3 into jug4 until jug4 is full
precond: J4 < 4, effect: J4′ = 4,
J3 ≥ 4 − J4 J3′ = J3 − (4 − J4 )
E3-4: pour water from jug3 into jug4 until jug3 is empty
precond: J3 + J4 < 4, effect: J4′ = J3 + J4 ,
J3 > 0 J3′ = 0
...

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 The Water Jugs Problem
Problem Search Graph

J_3 = 0 J_3 = 0
J_4 = 0 J_4 = 2 F4 J_4 = 0 F3

J_3 = 0 J_3 = 3
J_4 = 4 J_4 = 0
F3 P4-3
F4 E3-4

J_3 = 3 J_3 = 3 J_3 = 0 J_3 = 0

J_4 = 4 J_4 = 1 J_4 = 4 J_4 = 3
F3

... ... ...

J_3 = 3
J_4 = 3
P3-4

J_3 = 2 ...
E4 J_4 = 4

J_3 = 2
J_4 = 0
E3-4

J_3 = 0
J_4 = 2

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 Real-World Search Problems
• Route Finding
(computer networks, airline travel planning system, . . . )
• Travelling Salesman Optimization Problem
(package delivery, automatic drills, . . . )
• Layout Problems
(VLSI layout, furniture layout, packaging, . . . )
• Assembly Sequencing
(assembly of electric motors, . . . )
• Task Scheduling
(manufacturing, timetables, . . . )
• ...

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 Problem Solution
Typically, a problem’s solution is a description of how to reach a goal
state from the initial state:
Examples:
• n-puzzle
• route-finding problem
• assembly sequencing

Occasionally, a problem’s solution is simply a description of the goal

state itself:
Examples:

• 8-queen problem
• scheduling problems
• layout problems
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