{"title":"Light Contraction Hierarchies: Hierarchical Search Without Shortcuts","authors":"Claudius Proissl","doi":"10.1609/socs.v15i1.21773","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1609/socs.v15i1.21773","url":null,"abstract":"Hierarchical search such as Contraction Hierarchies is a popular and successful branch of optimization techniques for shortest path computation. Existing hierarchical techniques have one component in common: they add edges to the graph, so called shortcuts. This component usually causes a considerable space overhead but is mandatory in order to preserve correctness. In this work we show a hierarchical method that requires to store only one additional number per node and no shortcuts at all. We prove the correctness of our method and experimentally show that it improves query times by one order of magnitude compared to Dijkstra's bidirectional algorithm.","PeriodicalId":425645,"journal":{"name":"Symposium on Combinatorial Search","volume":"48 2","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2022-07-17","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"114036991","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
John Peterson, Anagha Kulkarni, E. Keyder, Joseph Kim, S. Zilberstein
{"title":"Trajectory Constraint Heuristics for Optimal Probabilistic Planning","authors":"John Peterson, Anagha Kulkarni, E. Keyder, Joseph Kim, S. Zilberstein","doi":"10.1609/socs.v15i1.21763","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1609/socs.v15i1.21763","url":null,"abstract":"Search algorithms such as LAO* and LRTDP coupled with admissible heuristics are widely used methods for optimal probabilistic planning. Their effectiveness depends on the degree to which heuristics are able to approximate the optimal cost of a state. Most common domain-independent heuristics, however, rely on determinization, and ignore the probabilities associated with different effects of actions. Here, we present a method for decomposing a probabilistic planning problem into subproblems by constraining possible action outcomes. Admissible heuristics evaluated for each subproblem can then be combined via a weighted sum to obtain an admissible heuristic for the original problem that takes into account a limited amount of probabilistic information. We use this approach to derive new admissible heuristics for probabilistic planning, and show that for some problems they are significantly more informative than existing heuristics, leading to up to an order of magnitude speedups in the time to converge to an optimal policy.","PeriodicalId":425645,"journal":{"name":"Symposium on Combinatorial Search","volume":"1 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2022-07-17","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"129232116","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Avoiding Errors in Learned Heuristics in Bounded-Suboptimal Search","authors":"M. Greco, Jorge A. Baier","doi":"10.1609/socs.v15i1.21804","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1609/socs.v15i1.21804","url":null,"abstract":"Despite being very effective, learned heuristics in bounded-suboptimal search can produce heuristic plateaus or move the search to zones of the state space that do not lead to a solution. In addition, it produces\u0000inadmissible cost-to-go estimates; therefore, it cannot be exploited with classical algorithms like WA* to produce w-optimal solutions. In this paper, we present two ways in which Focal Search can be modified to exploit a learned heuristic in a bounded suboptimal search: Focal Discrepancy Search, which, to evaluate each state, uses a discrepancy score based on the best-predicted heuristic value; and K-Focal Search,\u0000which expands more than one node from the FOCAL list in each expansion cycle. Both algorithms return w-optimal solutions and explore different zones of the state space than the ones that focal search, using the learned heuristic to sort the FOCAL list, would explore.","PeriodicalId":425645,"journal":{"name":"Symposium on Combinatorial Search","volume":"1 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2022-07-17","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"130598782","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Devin Thomas, Tianyi Gu, Wheeler Ruml, S. E. Shimony
{"title":"Situated Grid Pathfinding Among Moving Obstacles (Extended Abstract)","authors":"Devin Thomas, Tianyi Gu, Wheeler Ruml, S. E. Shimony","doi":"10.1609/socs.v15i1.21800","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1609/socs.v15i1.21800","url":null,"abstract":"There has been much recent work on finding paths in grid maps among moving obstacles.\u0000However, in addition to assuming complete omniscience regarding the map and the obstacles' trajectories, previous work has also assumed that time stands still while the agent plans. In this paper, we address situated pathfinding, in which time passes and the obstacles continue to move while the agent plans. We study the choice of state space representation and search algorithm, with a focus on whether conclusions drawn from studies in the off-line case continue to hold in a situated setting.","PeriodicalId":425645,"journal":{"name":"Symposium on Combinatorial Search","volume":"67 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2022-07-17","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"124216039","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Daniel Heller, Patrick Ferber, Julian Bitterwolf, Matthias Hein, Jörg Hoffmann
{"title":"Neural Network Heuristic Functions: Taking Confidence into Account","authors":"Daniel Heller, Patrick Ferber, Julian Bitterwolf, Matthias Hein, Jörg Hoffmann","doi":"10.1609/socs.v15i1.21771","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1609/socs.v15i1.21771","url":null,"abstract":"Neural networks (NN) are increasingly investigated in AI\u0000Planning, and are used successfully to learn heuristic functions.\u0000NNs commonly not only predict a value, but also output\u0000a confidence in this prediction. From the perspective of\u0000heuristic search with NN heuristics, it is a natural idea to\u0000take this into account, e.g. falling back to a standard heuristic\u0000where confidence is low. We contribute an empirical study\u0000of this idea. We design search methods which prune nodes,\u0000or switch between search queues, based on the confidence\u0000of NNs. We furthermore explore the possibility of \u0000out-of-distribution (OOD) training, which tries to reduce the\u0000overconfidence of NNs on inputs different to the training distribution.\u0000In experiments on IPC benchmarks, we find that our\u0000search methods improve coverage over standard methods, and\u0000that OOD training has the desired effect in terms of prediction\u0000accuracy and confidence, though its impact on search seems\u0000marginal.","PeriodicalId":425645,"journal":{"name":"Symposium on Combinatorial Search","volume":"30 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2022-07-17","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"128154154","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Sumedh Pendurkar, Taoan Huang, Sven Koenig, Guni Sharon
{"title":"A Discussion on the Scalability of Heuristic Approximators (Extended Abstract)","authors":"Sumedh Pendurkar, Taoan Huang, Sven Koenig, Guni Sharon","doi":"10.1609/socs.v15i1.21796","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1609/socs.v15i1.21796","url":null,"abstract":"In this work, we examine a line of recent publications that propose to use deep neural networks to approximate the goal distances of states for heuristic search. We present a first step toward showing that this work suffers from inherent scalability limitations since --- under the assumption that P≠NP --- such approaches require network sizes that scale exponentially in the number of states to achieve the necessary (high) approximation accuracy.","PeriodicalId":425645,"journal":{"name":"Symposium on Combinatorial Search","volume":"15 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2022-07-17","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"114993125","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Which MAPF Model Works Best for Automated Warehousing?","authors":"Sumanth Varambally, Jiaoyang Li, Sven Koenig","doi":"10.1609/socs.v15i1.21767","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1609/socs.v15i1.21767","url":null,"abstract":"Multi-Agent Path Finding (MAPF) algorithms and their variants can find high-quality collision-free plans for automated warehousing under simplified assumptions about the robot dynamics. However, these simplifying assumptions pose challenging implementational issues as the robots cannot follow the plans precisely. Various robust execution frameworks, such as the Action Dependency Graph (ADG) framework, have been proposed to enable the real-world execution of MAPF plans. Under such a framework, it is unclear how the simplifying assumptions affect the performance of the robots. In this work, we first argue that the ADG framework provides the same robustness guarantees as the single-agent framework (where plans are generated independently for each robot and collisions are avoided through a reservation table), which is widely used in industry. We then improve the efficiency of the ADG framework by integrating it with the Rolling-Horizon Collision-Resolution framework to solve MAPF problems with a persistent stream of online tasks. Using the integrated framework, we compare the standard MAPF model with many of its more complex variants, such as MAPF with rotation, k-robust MAPF, and continuous-time MAPF (taking robot dynamics into account). We examine their effectiveness in improving throughput through realistic simulations of warehouse settings with the Gazebo simulator.","PeriodicalId":425645,"journal":{"name":"Symposium on Combinatorial Search","volume":"39 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2022-07-17","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"124086113","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Ryan Hechenberger, P. J. Stuckey, P. L. Bodic, Daniel D. Harabor
{"title":"Dual Euclidean Shortest Path Search (Extended Abstract)","authors":"Ryan Hechenberger, P. J. Stuckey, P. L. Bodic, Daniel D. Harabor","doi":"10.1609/socs.v15i1.21787","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1609/socs.v15i1.21787","url":null,"abstract":"The Euclidean Shortest Path Problem (ESPP) asks us to find a minimum length path between two points on a 2D plane while avoiding a set of polygonal obstacles. Existing approaches for ESPP, based on Dijkstra or A* search, are primal methods that gradually build up longer and longer valid paths until they reach the target. In this paper we define an alternative algorithm for ESPP which can avoid this problem. Our approach starts from a path that ignores all obstacles, and generates longer and longer paths, each avoiding more obstacles, until eventually the search finds an optimal valid path.","PeriodicalId":425645,"journal":{"name":"Symposium on Combinatorial Search","volume":"1 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2022-07-17","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"129687250","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
A. Gerevini, N. Lipovetzky, Francesco Percassi, A. Saetti, I. Serina
{"title":"On the Use of Width-Based Search for Multi Agent Privacy-Preserving Planning (Extended Abstract)","authors":"A. Gerevini, N. Lipovetzky, Francesco Percassi, A. Saetti, I. Serina","doi":"10.1609/socs.v15i1.21784","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1609/socs.v15i1.21784","url":null,"abstract":"The aim of decentralised multi-agent (DMA) planning is to coordinate a set of agents to jointly achieve a goal while preserving their privacy. Blind search algorithms, such as width-based search, have recently proved to be very effective in the context of centralised automated planning, especially when combined with goal-oriented techniques. In this paper, we discuss a recent line of research in which the usage of width-based search has been extensively studied in the context of DMA planning, addressing the challenges related to the agents' privacy and performance.","PeriodicalId":425645,"journal":{"name":"Symposium on Combinatorial Search","volume":"35 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2022-07-17","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"127466281","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Daniel Damir Harabor, Ryan Hechenberger, Thomas Jahn
{"title":"Benchmarks for Pathfinding Search: Iron Harvest","authors":"Daniel Damir Harabor, Ryan Hechenberger, Thomas Jahn","doi":"10.1609/socs.v15i1.21770","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1609/socs.v15i1.21770","url":null,"abstract":"Pathfinding is a central topic in AI for games, with many approaches having been suggested. But comparing different algorithms is tricky, because design choices stem from different practical considerations; e.g., some pathfinding systems are grid-based, others rely on a navigation mesh or visibility graph and so on. Current benchmarks mirror this trend, focusing on one set of assumptions while ignoring the rest. In this work we present a new unified benchmark using data from the game Iron Harvest. For 35 different levels in the game we generate several complementary map representations (grid, mesh and obstacle-set) and we provide a common set of challenging instances. We describe and analyse the new benchmark and then compare several leading pathfinding algorithms that begin from different assumption sets. Our goal is to allow researchers and practitioners to better understand the relative strengths and weakness of competing techniques.","PeriodicalId":425645,"journal":{"name":"Symposium on Combinatorial Search","volume":"35 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2022-07-17","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"125425800","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}