Richard Korf's group at UCLA has found "the first
optimal solutions to random instances of Rubik's Cube,"
using an iterative-deepening-A* (IDA*) algorithm.
The median optimal solution length is almost certainly 18 moves.
The speed of their program increases linearly with the amount
of memory available, since it uses a large "pattern database"
to store the number of moves required for various subgoals.
"Contrary to conventional wisdom, this analysis suggests that
the effect of heuristic functions is to reduce the effective
depth of search, rather than the effective branching factor."
[Vilma Lorenzana-Walsh , la.seminars,
29Sep98.] (See for USC CS Dept. seminar notices.)
Tjen-Sien Lim has a decision-trees home page and discussion
list at , covering
methods for classification and regression. [,
sci.stat.math, 01Sep98. David Joslin.]
The On-Line Guide to Prolog Programming, at
,
is a 1998 2nd edition of the Interactive Prolog Guide,
.
You can use the system to test small Prolog programs directly
in your web browser. [Roman Bartak ,
comp.ai, 28Sep98. David Joslin.]
A SoftSeek search for tutorials turned up shareware resources
for Ada 83, Ada 95, C, C++, Pascal, Basic, Visual Basic, Prolog,
Unix, etc., as well as reference material on file formats
and the like. Also AI/alife simulators such as
"A.I. Wars - The Insect Mind," Advanced T-Robots,
Robot Battle, and IntelliBots. .
[Al Aab , alt.comp.editors.batch, 03Mar98.]
There is an extensive review of the "Neurobiology
of the Tactile System in the Frog and Toad" at
. Lots of illustrations
about how the tactile system functions. [David Olmsted
, comp.ai.neural-nets, 22Sep98.]
The logistics website at
has information on intelligent, object-oriented process
control and simulation, neural-network process modeling,
dynamic scheduling, and G2-based logistics expert systems.
Applications include mining, logistics, railways, ports
and harbors, pipelines, steel and metallurgy, cement,
lime, petrochemicals, textiles, food, breweries, and finance.
[, comp.simulation, 11Mar98.]
-- Ken
