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人工智能(五)

Constraint satisfaction problem (CSP,约束满足问题)

  • The search algorithms we discussed so far had no knowledgeof the states representation (black box).
  • Instead we can have a general state representation that workswell for many different problems.
  • We can build then specialized search algorithms that operateefficiently on this general state representation.
  • We call the class of problems that can be represented withthis specialized representation CSPs – Constraint Satisfaction Problems.

  • 到目前为止,我们讨论的搜索算法没有状态表示(黑盒)的知识。
  • 相反,我们可以有一个适用于许多不同问题的通用状态表示。
  • 我们可以构建专门的搜索算法,有效地在这个通用状态表示上操作。
  • 我们把可以用这种专门的表示 CSPs-Constraint Satisfaction Problems 表示的问题类称为 CSPs-Constraint Satisfaction Problems。

CSPs: State Representation

The idea: represent states as a vectors of feature values

  • A set ofkfeatures (or variables)
  • Each variable has a domain of different values,e.g.
    • height ={short, average, tall},
    • weight ={light, average, heavy}
  • A state is specified by an assignment of a value for eachvariable.
  • A partial state is specified by an assignment of a value tosome of the variables.
  • A goal state specified as conditions on the vector of featurevalues.

Formalization of a CSP

  • A CSP consists of
    • A set of variablesV1, . . . , Vn
    • For each variable a (finite) domain of possible values Dom[Vi].
    • A set of constraintsC1, . . . , Cm.
  • A solution to a CSP is an assignment of a value to all of thevariables such that every constraint is satisfied.
  • A CSP is unsatisfiable if no solution exists.
  • Each variable can be assigned any value from its domain
    • Vi=dwhered∈Dom[Vi]
  • Each constraint C
    • has a set of variables it is over, called its scope,e.g.,C(V1, V2, V4)
    • Acts as a boolean function that maps assignments to thesevariables to true/false,e.g.,
      • C(V1=a, V2=b, V4=c) =True
      • C(V1=b, V2=c, V4=c) =False

Constraints

  • Unary Constraints (over one variable)
    • e.g.,C(X) :X= 2;C(Y) :Y >5
  • Binary Constraints (over two variables)
    • e.g.,C(X, Y) :X+Y <6
  • Higher-order (n-ary) constraints: over 3 or more variables.

Solving CSPs

  • We do not care about the sequence of moves needed to get toa goal state.
  • We only care about finding a setting of the variables thatsatisfies the goal.
  • Thus CSPs can be solved by a specialized version of depthfirst search.
  • We can build up to a solution by searching through the spaceof partial assignments.
  • In principle, the order in which we assign the variables doesnot matter – eventually they all have to be assigned.
  • If we falsify a constraint during the process of building up asolution, we can immediately reject the current partialassignment.

CSP as a Search Problem

  • Initial state: empty assignment
  • Successor function: a value is assigned to any unassignedvariable, which does not cause any constraint to return false.
  • Goal test: the assignment is complete

A generic backtracking algorithm

  • We pick a variable*,
  • pick a value for it*,
  • test the constraints that we can,
  • if a constraint is unsatisfied we backtrack,
  • otherwise we set another variable.
  • When all the variables are set, we’re done.
  • The algorithm searches a tree of partial assignments.
  • Heuristics are used to determine
    • the order in which variables are assigned: PickUnassignedVariable()
    • the order of values tried for each variable.
  • The choice of the next variable can vary from branch to branch, e.g.,
    • under the assignment V1=a we might choose to assign V4 next, while under V1=b we might choose to assign V5 next.
  • This 「dynamically」 chosen variable ordering has a tremendous impact on performance.

Forward Checking

  • Forward checkingis an extension of backtracking search that employs a 「modest」 amount of propagation (look ahead).
  • When a variable is instantiated we check all constraints that have only one uninstantiatedvariable remaining.
  • For that uninstantiatedvariable, we check all of its values, pruning those values that violate the constraint.

Empirically

  • FC often is about 100 times faster than BT
  • FC with MRV (minimal remaining values) often 10000 timesfaster.
  • But on some problems the speed up can be much greater
    • Converts problems that are not solvable to problems that aresolvable
  • Still FC is not that powerful.
  • Other more powerful forms of constraint propagation are usedin practice

Generalized Arc Consistency (GAC)

  • C(X,Y) is consistent iff for every value of X there is somevalue of Y that satisfies C
  • C(V1, V2, V3, . . . , Vn)is GAC wrtViiff for every value ofVi,there are values ofV1, . . . , Vi−1, Vi+1, . . . , Vn that satisfyC
  • A constraint is GAC iff it is GAC wrt every variable in its scope
  • A CSP is GAC iff all of its constraints are GAC
  • Say we find a valuedof variableVi that is not consistent wrta constraint
  • i.e., there is no assignments to the other variables that satisfythe constraint whenVi=d
  • dis said to be arc inconsistent
  • We can remove d from the domain ofVias this value cannotlead to a solution
  • Much like Forward Checking, but more powerful
    • If d is removed fromCurDom[Vi], it must be the case thatdis arc inconsistent

GAC algorithm

  • We make all constraints GAC at every node of the searchspace.
  • Like forward checking, GAC could also be performed beforewe even start to search,i.e., before we assign any variables.
  • This is accomplished by removing from the domains of thevariables all arc inconsistent values.

Enforce GAC

  • A support for V=d in constraint C is an assignment A to all ofthe other variables in scope(C) s.t. A U{V=d}satisfies C.
  • Smarter implementations keep track of 「supports」 to avoidhaving to search through all possible assignments to the othervariables for a satisfying assignment.
  • Rather than search for a satisfying assignment to C containingV=d, we check to see if the current support is still valid: i.e.,all values it assigns still lie in the variable’s current domains
  • Also we take advantage that a support for V=d, e.g.{V=d,X=a, Y=b, Z=c}is also a support for X=a, Y=b, and Z=c
  • However, finding a support for V=d in constraint C still in theworst case requiresO(2k)work, where k is the arity of C.
  • Another key development in practice is that for someconstraints this computation can be done in polynomial time.
  • e.g., all-diff(V1, . . . , Vn) we can check ifVi=dhas a supportin the current domains of the other variables in polynomialtime using ideas from graph theory.