Overcoming Probabilistic Faults in Disoriented Linear Search

We consider search by mobile agents for a hidden, idle target, placed on the infinite line. Feasible solutions are agent trajectories in which all agents reach the target sooner or later. A special feature of our problem is that the agents are $p$-faulty, meaning that every attempt to change direction is an independent Bernoulli trial with known probability $p$, where $p$ is the probability that a turn fails. We are looking for agent trajectories that minimize the worst-case expected termination time, relative to competitive analysis. First, we study linear search with one deterministic $p$-faulty agent, i.e., with no access to random oracles, $p\in (0,1/2)$. For this problem, we provide trajectories that leverage the probabilistic faults into an algorithmic advantage. Our strongest result pertains to a search algorithm (deterministic, aside from the adversarial probabilistic faults) which, as $p\to 0$, has optimal performance $4.59112+\epsilon$, up to the additive term $\epsilon$ that can be arbitrarily small. Additionally, it has performance less than $9$ for $p\leq 0.390388$. When $p\to 1/2$, our algorithm has performance $\Theta(1/(1-2p))$, which we also show is optimal up to a constant factor. Second, we consider linear search with two $p$-faulty agents, $p\in (0,1/2)$, for which we provide three algorithms of different advantages, all with a bounded competitive ratio even as $p\rightarrow 1/2$. Indeed, for this problem, we show how the agents can simulate the trajectory of any $0$-faulty agent (deterministic or randomized), independently of the underlying communication model. As a result, searching with two agents allows for a solution with a competitive ratio of $9+\epsilon$, or a competitive ratio of $4.59112+\epsilon$. Our final contribution is a novel algorithm for searching with two $p$-faulty agents that achieves a competitive ratio $3+4\sqrt{p(1-p)}$

Evacuation from a Disk for Robots with Asymmetric Communication

We consider evacuation of two robots from an Exit placed at an unknown location on the perimeter of a unit (radius) disk. The robots can move with max speed 1 and start at the center of the disk at the same time. We consider a new communication model, known as the SR model, in which the robots have communication faults as follows: one of the robots is a Sender and can only send wirelessly at any distance, while the other is a Receiver in that it can only receive wirelessly from any distance. The communication status of each robot is known to the other robot. In addition, both robots can exchange messages when they are co-located, which is known as Face-to-Face (F2F) model. There have been several studies in the literature concerning the evacuation time when both robots may employ either F2F or Wireless (WiFi) communication. The SR communication model diverges from these two in that the two robots themselves have differing communication capabilities. We study the evacuation time, namely the time it takes until the last robot reaches the Exit, and show that the evacuation time in the SR model is strictly between the F2F and the WiFi models. The main part of our technical contribution is also an evacuation algorithm in which two cooperating robots accomplish the task in worst-case time at most ?+2. Interesting features of the proposed algorithm are the asymmetry inherent in the resulting trajectories, as well as that the robots do not move at full speed for the entire duration of their trajectories

Risk-based decision making and risk management of European Union regional programs

This paper presents a generalized method for management decision making incorporating risk assessment techniques. The risk based decision making methodology is applied to European Union expenditure programs used to implement its regional policy, such as the community support framework, community initiatives, special initiatives and other European policies. An example is presented for the development of an audit (inspection) program in the region of West Macedonia, Greece, during the implementation of the 3rd Community Structural Support Framework Operational Program. The generic nature of the method permits its use in the management of similar European regional programs in Greece and other European countries. It is also applicable to many other industries interested in applying risk-based management decisions to physical or process based systems.

Search on a Line by Byzantine Robots

We consider the problem of fault-tolerant parallel search on an infinite line by n robots. Starting from the origin, the robots are required to find a target at an unknown location. The robots can move with maximum speed 1 and can communicate in wireless mode among themselves. However, among the n robots, there are f robots that exhibit byzantine faults. A faulty robot can fail to report the target even after reaching it, or it can make malicious claims about having found the target when in fact it has not. Given the presence of such faulty robots, the search for the target can only be concluded when the non-faulty robots have sufficient verification that the target has been found. We aim to design algorithms that minimize the value of S_d (n, f), the time to find a target at a distance d from the origin by n robots among which f are faulty. We give several different algorithms whose running time depends on the ratio f/n, the density of faulty robots, and also prove lower bounds. Our algorithms are optimal for some densities of faulty robots

God Save the Queen

Queen Daniela of Sardinia is asleep at the center of a round room at the top of the tower in her castle. She is accompanied by her faithful servant, Eva. Suddenly, they are awakened by cries of "Fire". The room is pitch black and they are disoriented. There is exactly one exit from the room somewhere along its boundary. They must find it as quickly as possible in order to save the life of the queen. It is known that with two people searching while moving at maximum speed 1 anywhere in the room, the room can be evacuated (i.e., with both people exiting) in 1 + (2 pi)/3 + sqrt{3} ~~ 4.8264 time units and this is optimal [Czyzowicz et al., DISC\u2714], assuming that the first person to find the exit can directly guide the other person to the exit using her voice. Somewhat surprisingly, in this paper we show that if the goal is to save the queen (possibly leaving Eva behind to die in the fire) there is a slightly better strategy. We prove that this "priority" version of evacuation can be solved in time at most 4.81854. Furthermore, we show that any strategy for saving the queen requires time at least 3 + pi/6 + sqrt{3}/2 ~~ 4.3896 in the worst case. If one or both of the queen\u27s other servants (Biddy and/or Lili) are with her, we show that the time bounds can be improved to 3.8327 for two servants, and 3.3738 for three servants. Finally we show lower bounds for these cases of 3.6307 (two servants) and 3.2017 (three servants). The case of n >= 4 is the subject of an independent study by Queen Daniela\u27s Royal Scientific Team

Energy Consumption of Group Search on a Line

Consider two robots that start at the origin of the infinite line in search of an exit at an unknown location on the line. The robots can collaborate in the search, but can only communicate if they arrive at the same location at exactly the same time, i.e. they use the so-called face-to-face communication model. The group search time is defined as the worst-case time as a function of d, the distance of the exit from the origin, when both robots can reach the exit. It has long been known that for a single robot traveling at unit speed, the search time is at least 9d - o(d); a simple doubling strategy achieves this time bound. It was shown recently in [Chrobak et al., 2015] that k >= 2 robots traveling at unit speed also require at least 9d group search time. We investigate energy-time trade-offs in group search by two robots, where the energy loss experienced by a robot traveling a distance x at constant speed s is given by s^2 x, as motivated by energy consumption models in physics and engineering. Specifically, we consider the problem of minimizing the total energy used by the robots, under the constraints that the search time is at most a multiple c of the distance d and the speed of the robots is bounded by b. Motivation for this study is that for the case when robots must complete the search in 9d time with maximum speed one (b=1; c=9), a single robot requires at least 9d energy, while for two robots, all previously proposed algorithms consume at least 28d/3 energy. When the robots have bounded memory and can use only a constant number of fixed speeds, we generalize an algorithm described in [Baeza-Yates and Schott, 1995; Chrobak et al., 2015] to obtain a family of algorithms parametrized by pairs of b,c values that can solve the problem for the entire spectrum of these pairs for which the problem is solvable. In particular, for each such pair, we determine optimal (and in some cases nearly optimal) algorithms inducing the lowest possible energy consumption. We also propose a novel search algorithm that simultaneously achieves search time 9d and consumes energy 8.42588d. Our result shows that two robots can search on the line in optimal time 9d while consuming less total energy than a single robot within the same search time. Our algorithm uses robots that have unbounded memory, and a finite number of dynamically computed speeds. It can be generalized for any c, b with cb=9, and consumes energy 8.42588b^2d