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COS 226 Programming Assignment

8 Puzzle

Write a program to solve the 8-puzzle problem (and its natural generalizations) using the A* search algorithm.

The problem. The 8-puzzle problem is a puzzle invented and popularized by Noyes Palmer Chapman in the 1870s. It is played on a 3-by-3 grid with 8 square blocks labeled 1 through 8 and a blank square. Your goal is to rearrange the blocks so that they are in order, using as few moves as possible. You are permitted to slide blocks horizontally or vertically into the blank square. The following shows a sequence of legal moves from an initial board (left) to the goal board (right).

1 3 1 3 1 2 3 1 2 3 1 2 3 4 2 5 => 4 2 5 => 4 5 => 4 5 => 4 5 6 7 8 6 7 8 6 7 8 6 7 8 6 7 8 initial 1 left 2 up 5 left goal

Best-first search. Now, we describe a solution to the problem that illustrates a general artificial intelligence methodology known as the A* search algorithm. We define a search node of the game to be a board, the number of moves made to reach the board, and the previous search node. First, insert the initial search node (the initial board, 0 moves, and a null previous search node) into a priority queue. Then, delete from the priority queue the search node with the minimum priority, and insert onto the priority queue all neighboring search nodes (those that can be reached in one move from the dequeued search node). Repeat this procedure until the search node dequeued corresponds to a goal board. The success of this approach hinges on the choice of priority function for a search node. We consider two priority functions:

Hamming priority function. The number of blocks in the wrong position, plus the number of moves made so far to get to the search node. Intuitively, a search node with a small number of blocks in the wrong position is close to the goal, and we prefer a search node that have been reached using a small number of moves.

Manhattan priority function. The sum of the Manhattan distances (sum of the vertical and horizontal distance) from the blocks to their goal positions, plus the number of moves made so far to get to the search node.

For example, the Hamming and Manhattan priorities of the initial search node below are 5 and 10, respectively.

8 1 3 1 2 3 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 4 2 4 5 6 ---------------------- ---------------------- 7 6 5 7 8 1 1 0 0 1 1 0 1 1 2 0 0 2 2 0 3 initial goal Hamming = 5 + 0 Manhattan = 10 + 0

We make a key observation: To solve the puzzle from a given search node on the priority queue, the total number of moves we need to make (including those already made) is at least its priority, using either the Hamming or Manhattan priority function. (For Hamming priority, this is true because each block that is out of place must move at least once to reach its goal position. For Manhattan priority, this is true because each block must move its Manhattan distance from its goal position. Note that we do not count the blank square when computing the Hamming or Manhattan priorities.) Consequently, when the goal board is dequeued, we have discovered not only a sequence of moves from the initial board to the goal board, but one that makes the fewest number of moves. (Challenge for the mathematically inclined: prove this fact.)

A critical optimization. Best-first search has one annoying feature: search nodes corresponding to the same board are enqueued on the priority queue many times. To reduce unnecessary exploration of useless search nodes, when considering the neighbors of a search node, don't enqueue a neighbor if its board is the same as the board of the previous search node.

8 1 3 8 1 3 8 1 8 1 3 8 1 3 4 2 4 2 4 2 3 4 2 4 2 5 7 6 5 7 6 5 7 6 5 7 6 5 7 6 previous search node neighbor neighbor neighbor (disallow)

Game tree. One way to view the computation is as a game tree, where each search node is a node in the game tree and the children of a node correspond to its neighboring search nodes. The root of the game tree is the initial search node; the internal nodes have already been processed; the leaf nodes are maintained in a priority queue; at each step, the A* algorithm removes the node with the smallest priority from the priority queue and processes it (by adding its children to both the game tree and the priority queue).

Detecting unsolvable puzzles. Not all initial boards can lead to the goal board by a sequence of legal moves, including the two below:

1 2 3 1 2 3 4 4 5 6 5 6 7 8 8 7 9 10 11 12 13 15 14 unsolvable unsolvable

To detect such situations, use the fact that boards are divided into two equivalence classes with respect to reachability: (i) those that lead to the goal board and (ii) those that cannot lead to the goal board. Moreover, we can identify in which equivalence class a board belongs without attempting to solve it.

Odd board size. Given a board, an inversion is any pair of blocks i and j where i j but i appears after jwhen considering the board in row-major order (row 0, followed by row 1, and so forth).

1 2 3 1 2 3 1 2 3 1 2 3 1 2 3 4 5 6 => 4 5 6 => 4 6 => 4 6 => 4 6 7 8 7 8 7 8 5 7 8 5 7 8 5 1 2 3 4 5 6 8 7 1 2 3 4 5 6 8 7 1 2 3 4 6 8 5 7 1 2 3 4 6 8 5 7 1 2 3 4 6 7 8 5 inversions = 1 inversions = 1 inversions = 3 inversions = 3 inversions = 3 (8-7) (8-7) (6-5 8-5 8-7) (6-5 8-5 8-7) (6-5 7-5 8-5)

If the board size N is an odd integer, then each legal move changes the number of inversions by an even number. Thus, if a board has an odd number of inversions, then it cannot lead to the goal board by a sequence of legal moves because the goal board has an even number of inversions (zero).

The converse is also true: if a board has an even number of inversions, then it can lead to the goal board by a sequence of legal moves.

1 3 1 3 1 2 3 1 2 3 1 2 3 4 2 5 => 4 2 5 => 4 5 => 4 5 => 4 5 6 7 8 6 7 8 6 7 8 6 7 8 6 7 8 1 3 4 2 5 7 8 6 1 3 4 2 5 7 8 6 1 2 3 4 5 7 8 6 1 2 3 4 5 7 8 6 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 inversions = 4 inversions = 4 inversions = 2 inversions = 2 inversions = 0 (3-2 4-2 7-6 8-6) (3-2 4-2 7-6 8-6) (7-6 8-6) (7-6 8-6)

Even board size. If the board size N is an even integer, then the parity of the number of inversions is not invariant. However, the parity of the number of inversions plus the row of the blank square is invariant: each legal move changes this sum by an even number. If this sum is even, then it cannot lead to the goal board by a sequence of legal moves; if this sum is odd, then it can lead to the goal board by a sequence of legal moves.

1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4 5 6 8 => 5 6 8 => 5 6 7 8 => 5 6 7 8 => 5 6 7 8 9 10 7 11 9 10 7 11 9 10 11 9 10 11 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 12 13 14 15 12 13 14 15 12 13 14 15 12 13 14 15 blank row = 1 blank row = 1 blank row = 2 blank row = 2 blank row = 3 inversions = 6 inversions = 6 inversions = 3 inversions = 3 inversions = 0 -------------- -------------- -------------- -------------- -------------- sum = 7 sum = 7 sum = 5 sum = 5 sum = 3

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Board and Solver data types. Organize your program by creating an immutable data type Board with the following API:

public class Board {  public Board(int[][] blocks) // construct a board from an N-by-N array of blocks // (where blocks[i][j] = block in row i, column j)  public int size() // board size N  public int hamming() // number of blocks out of place  public int manhattan() // sum of Manhattan distances between blocks and goal  public boolean isGoal() // is this board the goal board?  public boolean isSolvable() // is this board solvable?  public boolean equals(Object y) // does this board equal y?  public Iterable neighbors() // all neighboring boards  public String toString() // string representation of this board (in the output format specified below)  public static void main(String[] args) // unit tests (not graded) } 

Corner cases. You may assume that the constructor receives an N-by-N array containing the N² integers between 0 and N² 1, where 0 represents the blank square.

Performance requirements. Your implementation should support all Board methods in time proportional to N (or better) in the worst case, with the exception that isSolvable() may take up to N⁴ in the worst case.

Also, create an immutable data type Solver with the following API:

public class Solver {  public Solver(Board initial) // find a solution to the initial board (using the A* algorithm)  public int moves() // min number of moves to solve initial board  public Iterable solution() // sequence of boards in a shortest solution  public static void main(String[] args) // solve a slider puzzle (given below) } 

To implement the A* algorithm, you must use the MinPQ data type from algs4.jar for the priority queue.

Corner cases. The constructor should throw a java.lang.IllegalArgumentException if the initial board is not solvable and a java.lang.NullPointerException if the initial board is null.

Solver test client. You can use the following test client to read a puzzle from a file (specified as a command-line argument) and print the solution to standard output.

public static void main(String[] args) { // create initial board from file In in = new In(args[0]); int N = in.readInt(); int[][] blocks = new int[N][N]; for (int i = 0; i  
Input and output formats. The input and output format for a board is the board size N followed by the N-by-N initial board, using 0 to represent the blank square.
 
 
 
% more puzzle04.txt 3 0 1 3 4 2 5 7 8 6 % java Solver puzzle04.txt Minimum number of moves = 4 3 0 1 3 4 2 5 7 8 6 3 1 0 3 4 2 5 7 8 6 3 1 2 3 4 0 5 7 8 6 3 1 2 3 4 5 0 7 8 6 3 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 0
 
 
 
% more puzzle-unsolvable3x3.txt 3 1 2 3 4 5 6 8 7 0 % java Solver puzzle3x3-unsolvable.txt Unsolvable puzzle
 
Your program should work correctly for arbitrary N-by-N boards (for any 1  N  32768), even if it is too slow to solve some of them in a reasonable amount of time.
 
Challenge for the bored. Implement a better solution which is capable of solving puzzles that the required solution is incapable of solving. Extreme improvements will be worth a small amount of extra credit.
 
Deliverables. Submit the files Board.java and Solver.java (with the Manhattan priority). We will supply stdlib.jar and algs4.jar. Your may not call any library functions other than those in java.lang, java.util, stdlib.jar, and algs4.jar. You must use the MinPQ data type from algs4.jarfor the priority queues. Finally, submit a readme.txt file and answer the questions.
  manhattan 4 moves 2 4 2 5 priority 6 7 6 not added to PQ (critical optimization) initial search node manhattan 4 moves 4 2 5 priority 4 7 6 next search node processed manhattan 3 manhattan S moves 1 4 2 5 moves 1 priority 4 priority 6 7 6 manhattan 2 4- 5 moves 2 priority 4 manhattan 4 4 2 5 moves 2 priority 6 7 8 6 7 8 6 currently on PQ currently on PQ (will be processed next 4 1 3 7 8 6 currently on P