Chapter 3.5 and 3.6 Heuristic Search Continued

Review:Learning Objectives Heuristic search strategies –Best-first search –A* algorithm Heuristic functions

Review:Heuristic Search Greedy search –Evaluation function h(n) (heuristic) = estimate of cost from n to closest goal –Example: h SLD (n) = straight-line distance from n to Bucharest –Greedy search expands the node that appears to be closest to goal

Review:Heuristic Search Properties of greedy search –Complete?? No – can get stuck in loops, e.g., Complete in finite space with repeated-state checking –Time?? O(b m ), but a good heuristic can give dramatic improvement –Space?? O(b m ) – keeps all nodes in memory –Optimal?? No

Review:Heuristic Search A* search –Premise - Avoid expanding paths that are already expansive –Evaluation function f(n) = g(n) + h(n) g(n) = cost so far to reach n h(n) = estimated cost to goal from n f(n) = estimated total cost of path through n to goal

Review:Heuristic Search A* search –A* search uses an admissible heuristic i.e., h(n)  h*(n) where h*(n) is the true cost from n. (also require h(n)  0, so h(G) = 0 for any goal G.) example, h SLD (n) never overestimates the actual road distance.

Heuristic Search A* search example

Heuristic Search A* search example

Heuristic Search A* search example

Heuristic Search A* search example

Heuristic Search A* search example

Heuristic Search Properties of A* –Complete?? Yes, unless there are infinitely many nodes with f  f(G) –Time?? Exponential in [relative error in h x length of solution.] –Space?? Keeps all nodes in memory –Optimal?? Yes – cannot expand f i+1 until f i is finished A* expands all nodes with f(n) C*

Heuristic Search A* algorithm –Optimality of A* (standard proof) –Suppose some suboptimal goal G 2 has been generated and is in the queue. Let n be an unexpanded node on a shortest path to an optimal goal G 1.

Heuristic Search A* algorithm –f(G 2 ) = g(G 2 )since h(G 2 ) = 0 > g(G 1 )since G 2 is suboptimal  f(n)since h is admissible –since f(G 2 ) > f(n), A* will never select G 2 for expansion

Heuristic Functions Admissible heuristic example: for the 8-puzzle h 1 (n) = number of misplaced tiles h 2 (n) = total Manhattan distance i.e. no of squares from desired location of each tile h 1 (S) = ?? h 2 (S) = ??

Heuristic Functions Admissible heuristic example: for the 8-puzzle h 1 (n) = number of misplaced tiles h 2 (n) = total Manhattan distance i.e. no of squares from desired location of each tile h 1 (S) = ?? 6 h 2 (S) = ?? = 14

Heuristic Functions Dominance –if h 1 (n)  h 2 (n) for all n (both admissible) then h 2 dominates h 1 and is better for search Typical search costs: d = 14 IDS = 3,473,941 nodes A*(h 1 ) = 539 nodes A*(h 2 ) = 113 nodes d = 24 IDS  54,000,000,000 nodes A*(h 1 ) = 39,135 nodes A*(h 2 ) = 1,641 nodes

Heuristic Functions Admissible heuristic example: for the 8-puzzle h 1 (n) = number of misplaced tiles h 2 (n) = total Manhattan distance i.e. no of squares from desired location of each tile h 1 (S) = ?? 6 h 2 (S) = ?? = 14 But how do you come up with a heuristic?

Heuristic Functions Relaxed problems Admissible heuristics can be derived from the exact solution cost of a relaxed version of the problem If the rules of the 8-puzzle are relaxed so that a tile can move anywhere, then h 1 (n) gives the shortest solution If the rules are relaxed so that a tile can move to any adjacent square, then h 2 (n) gives the shortest solution Key point: the optimal solution cost of a relaxed problem is no greater than the optimal solution cost of the real problem

Heuristic Functions Relaxed problems –Well-known example: traveling salesperson problem (TSP) – find the shortest tour visiting all cities exactly once –Minimum spanning tree can be computed in O(n 2 ) and is a lower bound on the shortest (open) tour

Heuristic Functions Iterative improvement algorithms –Iterative optimization problems, path is irrelevant; the goal state itself is the solution –Then state space = set of “complete” configurations; find optimal configuration e.g. TSP or, find configuration satisfying constraints, e.g. timetable –In such cases, can use iterative improvement algorithms; keep a single “current” state, try to improve it –Constant space, suitable for online as well as offline search

Heuristic Functions Example: Traveling Salesperson Problem Start with any complete tour, perform pairwise exchanges

Heuristic Functions Example: n-queens Put n queens on an n x n board with no queens on the same row, column, or diagonal Move a queen to reduce number of conflicts

24 Bidirectional Search

Questions before the exam? Main focus on uninformed and informed search from Ch. 3. Might also include PEAS and Environment concepts from Ch. 2