How does a robot decide what to do? How does UPS route its trucks? How do telcos configure their networks? Algorithms for problems like these are some of the most fun in computer science and lie at the core of artificial intelligence and operations research. By the end of this graduate seminar, not only will you have read some of the current literature in this area, you will have pushed forward the frontier of knowledge.
Official description: General techniques for solving shortest-path, constraint satisfaction, and combinatorial optimization problems, and their application in areas such as planning, robotics, and bioinformatics. Students read the scientific literature and prepare an original research contribution. Prereq: introductory AI or permission of the instructor.
In Fall 2009, is currently scheduled to meet Mondays and Wednesdays 1:40-3pm in Kingsbury N133. We can probably adjust the timing a little if need be - send me email if a conflict with another course would prevent you from attending. After the first meeting, we will probably also arrange to meet in a different room.
The next offering of this course after Fall 2009 will be in Spring 2011.
You should already have the Russell and Norvig textbook (2nd or 3rd edition). You might also want to review How to Read a Paper and The Task of the Referee.