12,105 research outputs found
Trajectories in phase diagrams, growth processes and computational complexity: how search algorithms solve the 3-Satisfiability problem
Most decision and optimization problems encountered in practice fall into one
of two categories with respect to any particular solving method or algorithm:
either the problem is solved quickly (easy) or else demands an impractically
long computational effort (hard). Recent investigations on model classes of
problems have shown that some global parameters, such as the ratio between the
constraints to be satisfied and the adjustable variables, are good predictors
of problem hardness and, moreover, have an effect analogous to thermodynamical
parameters, e.g. temperature, in predicting phases in condensed matter physics
[Monasson et al., Nature 400 (1999) 133-137]. Here we show that changes in the
values of such parameters can be tracked during a run of the algorithm defining
a trajectory through the parameter space. Focusing on 3-Satisfiability, a
recognized representative of hard problems, we analyze trajectories generated
by search algorithms using growth processes statistical physics. These
trajectories can cross well defined phases, corresponding to domains of easy or
hard instances, and allow to successfully predict the times of resolution.Comment: Revtex file + 4 eps figure
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Experimental evaluation of preprocessing algorithms for constraint satisfaction problems
This paper presents an experimental evaluation of two orthogonal schemes for preprocessing constraint satisfaction problems (CSPs). The first of these schemes involves a class of local consistency techniques that includes directional arc consistency, directional path consistency, and adaptive consistency. The other scheme concerns the prearrangement of variables in a linear order to facilitate an efficient search. In the first series of experiments, we evaluated the effect of each of the local consistency techniques on backtracking and its common enhancement, backjumping. Surprizingly, although adaptive consistency has the best worst-case complexity bounds, we have found that it exhibits the worst performance, unless the constraint graph was very sparse. Directional arc consistency (followed by either backjumping or backtracking) and backjumping (without any pre-processing) outperformed all other techniques; moreover, the former dominated the latter in computationally intensive situations. The second series of experiments suggests that maximum cardinality and minimum width arc the best pre-ordering (i.e., static ordering) strategies, while dynamic search rearrangement is superior to all the preorderings studied
Minimizing energy below the glass thresholds
Focusing on the optimization version of the random K-satisfiability problem,
the MAX-K-SAT problem, we study the performance of the finite energy version of
the Survey Propagation (SP) algorithm. We show that a simple (linear time)
backtrack decimation strategy is sufficient to reach configurations well below
the lower bound for the dynamic threshold energy and very close to the analytic
prediction for the optimal ground states. A comparative numerical study on one
of the most efficient local search procedures is also given.Comment: 12 pages, submitted to Phys. Rev. E, accepted for publicatio
Automated sequence and motion planning for robotic spatial extrusion of 3D trusses
While robotic spatial extrusion has demonstrated a new and efficient means to
fabricate 3D truss structures in architectural scale, a major challenge remains
in automatically planning extrusion sequence and robotic motion for trusses
with unconstrained topologies. This paper presents the first attempt in the
field to rigorously formulate the extrusion sequence and motion planning (SAMP)
problem, using a CSP encoding. Furthermore, this research proposes a new
hierarchical planning framework to solve the extrusion SAMP problems that
usually have a long planning horizon and 3D configuration complexity. By
decoupling sequence and motion planning, the planning framework is able to
efficiently solve the extrusion sequence, end-effector poses, joint
configurations, and transition trajectories for spatial trusses with
nonstandard topologies. This paper also presents the first detailed computation
data to reveal the runtime bottleneck on solving SAMP problems, which provides
insight and comparing baseline for future algorithmic development. Together
with the algorithmic results, this paper also presents an open-source and
modularized software implementation called Choreo that is machine-agnostic. To
demonstrate the power of this algorithmic framework, three case studies,
including real fabrication and simulation results, are presented.Comment: 24 pages, 16 figure
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