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Lecture 5 - Informed Search: Dr. Muhammad Adnan Hashmi

The document discusses informed search techniques, specifically A* search. It explains that A* search uses an evaluation function f(n) = g(n) + h(n), where g(n) is the exact cost to reach node n so far and h(n) is an admissible heuristic estimate of the cost from n to the goal. A* search expands the node with the lowest f(n) value first, using an admissible heuristic to avoid expanding paths that are already expensive. This technique is complete and optimal if h(n) satisfies certain admissibility conditions.

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Arsalan Ahmed
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111 views21 pages

Lecture 5 - Informed Search: Dr. Muhammad Adnan Hashmi

The document discusses informed search techniques, specifically A* search. It explains that A* search uses an evaluation function f(n) = g(n) + h(n), where g(n) is the exact cost to reach node n so far and h(n) is an admissible heuristic estimate of the cost from n to the goal. A* search expands the node with the lowest f(n) value first, using an admissible heuristic to avoid expanding paths that are already expensive. This technique is complete and optimal if h(n) satisfies certain admissibility conditions.

Uploaded by

Arsalan Ahmed
Copyright
© Attribution Non-Commercial (BY-NC)
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PPT, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Lecture 5 Informed Search

Dr. Muhammad Adnan Hashmi


1 January 2013

Idea: use an evaluation function for each node Estimate of desirability Expand most desirable unexpanded node Implementation: fringe is a queue sorted in decreasing order of desirability Special cases: Uniform Cost Search (uninformed) Greedy (best-first) Search (informed) A* Search (informed)
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1 January 2013

Evaluation function f(n) = g(n) + h(n) g(n) = exact cost so far to reach n h(n) = estimated cost to goal from n f(n) = estimated total cost of cheapest path through n to goal

Special cases:
Uniform Cost Search: f(n) = g(n) Greedy (best-first) Search: f(n) = h(n) A* Search: f(n) = g(n) + h(n)

1 January 2013

Evaluation function h(n) (heuristic) Estimated cost of the cheapest path from n to a goal node E.g., hSLD(n) = straight-line distance from n to Bucharest Greedy search expands the node that appears to be closest to goal.

1 January 2013

1 January 2013

Complete? No can get stuck in loops, e.g., with Oradea as goal and start from Iasi: Iasi Neamt Iasi Neamt Complete in finite space with repeated state checking Time? O(bm), but a good heuristic can give dramatic improvement

Space? O(bm) -- keeps all nodes in memory


Optimal? No.

Idea: Avoid expanding paths that are already expensive Evaluation function f(n) = g(n) + h(n) g(n) = exact cost so far to reach n h(n) = estimated cost to goal from n f(n) = estimated total cost of cheapest path through n to goal A* search uses an admissible heuristic: h(n) h*(n) where h*(n) is the true cost from n Also h(n) 0, and h(G)=0 for any goal G E.g., hSLD(n) is an admissible heuristic because it doesnt overestimate the actual road distance.
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1 January 2013

If we are trying to find the cheapest solution, a reasonable thing to try first is the node with the lowest value of g(n) + h(n) This strategy is more than just reasonable Provided that h(n) satisfies certain conditions, A* using TREE search is both complete and optimal.

1 January 2013

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Suppose some suboptimal goal G2 has been generated and is in the fringe. Let n be an unexpanded node in the fringe such that n is on a shortest path to an optimal goal G.

f(G2) g(G2) f(G) f(G2)

= g(G2) > g(G) = g(G) > f(G)

since h(G2) = 0 since G2 is non-optimal since h(G) = 0 from above

Suppose some suboptimal goal G2 has been generated and is in the fringe. Let n be an unexpanded node in the fringe such that n is on a shortest path to an optimal goal G.

f(G2) > f(G) from above h(n) h*(n) since h is admissible g(n) + h(n) g(n) + h*(n) f(n) f(G)

Hence f(G2) > f(n), and A* will never select G2 for expansion

1 January 2013

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