Problem solving Agents

J. Felicia Lilian
(Based on Slides by Mausam
Stuart Russell, Peter Norvig, NPTEL)
• Goal formulation, based on the current situation and
the agent’s performance measure, is the first step in
problem solving.

• Problem formulation is the process of deciding what

actions and states to consider, given a goal.

• Search is the process of looking for a sequence of

actions that reaches the goal
Search Algorithm
 Well-defined problems
• Initial state – In(space)
• Possible actions – Go(2),Go(8), Go(6), GO(4)
• Transition model – action taken
Result(In(space), Go(4)) = In(4)
• Path is a sequence of actions
• Goal test – check for the given action is the goal
state.
• Path Cost – assigns a numeric cost to each path
C(state s, action a, next state s’)
 Examples
• Vacuum cleaner
• 8 Queen’s problem
• 8 puzzle problem

(states, initial state, action, transition

model, goal test, path cost)
 Measuring Problem Solving solutions

• Completeness
• Optimality
• Time complexity
• Space complexity