Informed Search and

Exploration
Chapter 4 (4.1-4.3)

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Introduction
Ch.3 searches good
building blocks for
learning about search
But vastly inefficient eg:
Can we
Time
do better?
Space

Breadth
First
B^D
B^D
Optimal?
Y
Complete?
Y

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Depth
First
B^M
BM
N
N

Uniform
Cost
>B^D (?)
>B^D (?)
Y
Y

(Quick Partial)

Previous algorithms differed in how to

select next node for expansion eg:

Breadth First

Fringe nodes sorted old -> new

Depth First

Fringe nodes sorted new -> old

Uniform cost

Review

Fringe nodes sorted by path cost: small -> big

Used little (no) external domain

knowledge
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Overview

Heuristic Search

Best-First Search Approach

Greedy

A*

Heuristic Functions

Local Search and Optimization

Hill-climbing
Simulated Annealing
Local Beam
Genetic Algorithms
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Informed Searching

An informed search strategy uses

knowledge beyond the definition of the
problem
The knowledge is embodied in an
evaluation function f(n)

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Best-First Search

An algorithm in which a node is selected

for expansion based on an evaluation
function f(n)

Fringe nodes ordered by f(n)

Traditionally the node with the lowest
evaluation function is selected
Not an accurate nameexpanding the best
node first would be a straight march to the
goal.
Choose the node that appears to be the best
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Best-First Search

Remember: Uniform cost search

Best-first search:

F(n) = g(n)
F(n) = h(n)

Later, a-star search:

F(n) = g(n) + h(n)

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Best-First Search (cont.)

Some BFS algorithms also include the notion

of a heuristic function h(n)
h(n) = estimated cost of the cheapest path
from node n to a goal node
Best way to include informed knowledge into
a search
Examples:

How far is it from point A to point B

How much time will it take to complete the rest of
the task at current node to finish
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Greedy Best-First Search

Expands node estimated to be closest

to the goal

f(n) = h(n)

Consider the route finding problem.

Can we use additional information to avoid

costly paths that lead nowhere?
Consider using the straight line distance
(SLD)

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Route Finding
374

366

253

329

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Route Finding: Greedy Best

First
Arad

f(n) = 366

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Route Finding: Greedy Best

First
Arad

Sibiu

253

f(n) = 366

Timisoara

329

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Zerind

374

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Route Finding: Greedy Best

First
Arad

Sibiu

Arad

366

253

f(n) = 366

Timisoara

Fagaras

176

329

Oradea

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Zerind

380

374

Rimnicu Vilcea 193

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Route Finding: Greedy Best

First
Arad

Sibiu

Arad

366

Timisoara

253

Fagaras

Bucharest

f(n) = 366

176

329

Oradea

Sibiu

Zerind

380

374

Rimnicu Vilcea 193

253

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Exercise

So is Arad->Sibiu->Fagaras->Bucharest optimal?
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Greedy Best-First Search

Not optimal.
Not complete.

Space Complexity

Could go down a path and never return to try

another.
e.g., Iasi Neamt Iasi Neamt
O(bm) keeps all nodes in memory

Time Complexity

O(bm) (but a good heuristic can give a dramatic improvement)

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Heuristic Functions
Example: 8-Puzzle
Average solution cost for a random
puzzle is 22 moves
Branching factor is about 3
Empty tile in the middle -> four moves
Empty tile on the edge -> three moves
Empty tile in corner -> two moves

322 is approx 3.1e10

Get rid of repeated states
181,440 distinct states
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Heuristic Functions

h1 = number of misplaced tiles

h2 = sum of distances of tiles to goal position.

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Heuristic Functions

h1 = 7
h2 = 4+0+3+3+1+0+2+1 = 14

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Admissible Heuristics

A heuristic function h(n) is admissible if it

never overestimates the cost to reach the
goal from n
Another property of heuristic functions is
consistency

h(n) c(n,a,n) + h(n) where:

c(n,a,n) is the cost to get to n from n using action a.

Consistent h(n) the values of f(n) along any

path are non-decreasing

Graph search is optimal if h(n) is consistent

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Heuristic Functions

Is h1

admissible?
consistent?

Is h2

(#of displaced tiles)

(Manhattan distance)

admissible?
consistent?

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Dominance

If h2(n) h1(n) for all n (both admissible)

then h2 dominates h1
h2 is better for search

Typical search costs (average number of nodes

expanded):

d=12 IDS = 3,644,035 nodes

A*(h1) = 227 nodes
A*(h2) = 73 nodes
d=24 IDS = too many nodes
A*(h1) = 39,135 nodes
A*(h2) = 1,641 nodes

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Heuristic Functions

Heuristics are often obtained from

relaxed problem

Simplify the original problem by removing

constraints
The cost of an optimal solution to a relaxed
problem is an admissible heuristic.

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8-Puzzle

Original

A tile can move from A to B if A is horizontally

or vertically adjacent to B and B is blank.

Relaxations

Move from A to B if A is adjacent to B(remove

blank)

h2 by moving each tile in turn to destination

Move from A to B

(remove adjacent and blank)

h1 by simply moving each tile directly to

destination
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How to Obtain Heuristics?

Ask the domain expert (if there is one)

Solve example problems and generalize your experience on which
operators are helpful in which situation (particularly important for
state space search)
Try to develop sophisticated evaluation functions that measure
the closeness of a state to a goal state (particularly important for
state space search)
Run your search algorithm with different parameter settings trying
to determine which parameter settings of the chosen search
algorithm are good to solve a particular class of problems.
Write a program that selects good parameter settings based on
problem characteristics (frequently very difficult) relying on
machine learning
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A* Search

The greedy best-first search does not

consider how costly it was to get to a
node.

f(n) = h(n)

Idea: avoid expanding paths that are

already expensive
Combine g(n), the cost to reach node n,
with h(n)

f(n) = g(n) + h(n)

estimated cost of cheapest solution through n
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A* Search

When h(n) = actual cost to goal

When h(n) < actual cost to goal

Only nodes in the correct path are expanded

Optimal solution is found
Additional nodes are expanded
Optimal solution is found

When h(n) > actual cost to goal

Optimal solution can be overlooked

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A* Search

Complete

Yes, unless there are infinitely many nodes with f <= f(G)

Time

Exponential in [relative error of h x length of soln]

The better the heuristic, the better the time

Space

Best case h is perfect, O(d)

Worst case h = 0, O(bd) same as BFS

Keeps all nodes in memory and save in case of repetition

This is O(bd) or worse
A* usually runs out of space before it runs out of time

Optimal

Yes, cannot expand fi+1 unless fi is finished

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Route Finding

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A* Example

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A* Search
Arad

Sibiu

Arad

646

393

f(n) = 0 + 366

Timisoara

=140+253

Fagaras

415

447

Oradea

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Zerind

671

449

Rimnicu Vilcea 413

Things are
different
now!

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A* Search Continued

Arad

646

Fagaras

415

Oradea

671

Rimnicu Vilcea 413

Bucharest

Sibiu

Craiova

Pitesti

Sibiu

450

591

526

417

553

Bucharest

Craiova

Rimnicu Vilcea

418

615

607

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A* Search; complete
A* is complete.
A* builds search bands of increasing f(n)
At all points f(n) < C*
Eventually we reach the goal contour
Optimally efficient
Most times exponential growth occurs
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Memory Bounded Heuristic

WaysSearch
of getting around memory issues of A*:
IDA* (iterative deepening algorithm)

Cutoff = f(n) instead of depth

Recursive Best First Search

Mimic standard BFS, but use linear space!

Keeps track of best f(n) from alternate paths
Disads: excessive node regeneration from recursion
Too little memory! use memory-bounded
approaches

Cutoff when memory bound is reached and other constraints

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Local Search /
Optimization
Idea
is to find the best state.

We dont really care how to get to the

best state, just that we get there.
The best state is defined according to
an objective function

Measures the fitness of a state.

Problem: Find the optimal state

The one that maximizes (or minimizes) the

objective function.
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State Space Landscapes

Objective Function

global
max
local
max

shoulder

State Space
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Problem Formulation

Complete-state formulation

Start with an approximate solution and

perturb

n-queens problem

Place n queens on a board so that no

queen is attacking another queen.

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Problem Formulation

Initial State: n queens placed randomly

on the board, one per column.
Successor function: States that
obtained by moving one queen to a
new location in its column.
Heuristic/objective function: The
number of pairs of attacking queens.

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n-Queens

4
3

5 2

3 3

5
3

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4
2
3

39

Local Search Algorithms

Hill climbing
Simulated annealing
Local beam search
Genetic Algorithms

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Hill Climbing (or Descent)

Objective Function

State Space
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Hill Climbing Pseudo-code

"Like climbing Everest in thick fog with amnesia"

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Hill Climbing Problems

Objective Function

State Space
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n-Queens

4
3

5 2

3 3

5
3

4
2
3

What happens if we move 3rd queen?

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Possible Improvements

Stochastic hill climbing

Choose at random from uphill moves
Probability of move could be influenced by steepness

First-choice hill climbing

Generate successors at random until one is better
than current.

Random-restart
Execute hill climbing several times, choose best
result.
If p is probability of a search succeeding, then
expected number of restarts is 1/p.
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Simulated Annealing

Similar to stochastic hill climbing

Moves are selected at random

If a move is an improvement, accept
Otherwise, accept with probability less
than 1.

Probability gets smaller as time passes

and by the amount of badness of the
move.
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Simulated Annealing
Algorithm

Success

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Traveling Salesperson
Problem

Tour of cities
Visit each one exactly once
Minimize distance/cost/etc.

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Local Beam Search

Keep k states in memory instead of just

one
Generate successors of all k states
If one is a goal, return the goal
Otherwise, take k best successors and
repeat.

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Local Beam Search

Concentrates on
promising paths

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Local Beam Search

Initial k states may not be diverse

enough

Could have clustered around a local max.

Improvement is stochastic beam

search

Choose k states at random, with

probability of choice an increasing function
of its value.

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Genetic Algorithms

Variant of stochastic beam search

Successor states are generated by
combining two parent states

Hopefully improves diversity

Start with k states, the population

Each state, or individual, represented as a
string over a finite alphabet (e.g. DNA)
Each state is rated by a fitness function
Select parents for reproduction using the
fitness function
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Genetic Algorithms

Taken from http://www.cs.qub.ac.uk/~M.Sullivan/ga/ga_index.html

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A Genetic Algorithm

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