knowledge management - 8-puzzle has a solution in prolog using manhattan distance

Question

The 8-puzzle will be represented by a 3x3 list of lists positions where the empty box will be represented by the value 9, as shown below: [[9,1,3],[5,2,6],[4,7,8]]

Possibility Solution: Only half of the initial positions of the 8-puzzle are solvable. There is a formula that allows to know from the beginning if you can solve the puzzle.To determine whether an 8-puzzle is solvable, for each square containing a value N is calculated how many numbers less than N there after the current cell. For example, to the initial status:

• 1 no numbers less then = 0
• Empty (9) - has to subsequently 3,5,2,6,4,7,8 = 7
• 3 have = 1 to 2
• 5 has subsequently to 2,4 = 2
• 2 no number under it happen = 0
• 6 is subsequently 4 = 1
• 4 no numbers less then = 0
• 7 no minor numbers after = 0
• 8 no numbers less then = 0

After that, we calculate the Manhattan distance between the position of the empty and position (3.3). For the above example, the empty box is in the position (1.2), so Manhattan distance that is: d = abs (3-1) + abs (3-2) = 3 Finally, add up all the calculated values??. If the result is even, implies that the puzzle is solvable, but it is odd not be resolved. 0 +7 +1 +2 +0 +1 +0 +0 +0 +3 = 14

The solution is designed to create a knowledge base with all possible states of a number on the board and we'll see how many numbers less than N there after the current position.

Here's my code:

%***********************Have Solution*********************************

posA(9,8). posA(8,7). posA(7,6). posA(6,5). posA(5,4). posA(4,3). posA(3,2). posA(2,1). posA(1,0).

posB(9,7). posB(8,7). posB(8,6). posB(7,6). posB(7,5). posB(7,4). 
posB(6,5). posB(6,4). posB(6,3). posB(6,2). posB(5,4). posB(5,3). posB(5,2). posB(5,1).  posB(5,0). 
posB(4,3). posB(4,2). posB(3,2). posB(3,1).  posB(2,1). posB(2,0). posB(1,0).

posC(9,6). posC(8,6). posC(8,5). posC(7,6). posC(7,5). posC(7,4). posC(6,5). posC(6,4). posC(6,3).
posC(5,4). posC(5,3). posC(5,2). posC(4,3). posC(4,2). posC(4,1). posC(4,0).
posC(3,2). posC(3,1). posC(3,0). posC(2,1). posC(1,0).

posD(9,5). posD(8,5). posD(8,4). posD(7,5). posD(7,4). posD(7,3). posD(6,5). posD(6,4). posD(6,3).
posD(6,2). posD(5,4). posD(5,3). posD(5,2). posD(5,1). posD(4,3). posD(4,2). posD(4,1). posD(5,0).
posD(3,2). posD(3,1). posD(3,0). posD(2,1). posD(1,0).

posE(9,4). posE(8,4). posE(8,3). posE(7,4). posE(7,3). posE(7,2). posE(6,4). posE(6,3). posE(6,2). posE(6,1).
posE(5,4). posE(5,3). posE(5,2). posE(5,1). posE(5,0). posE(4,3). posE(4,2). posE(4,1). posE(4,0).
posE(3,2). posE(3,1). posE(3,0). posE(2,1). posE(2,0). posE(1,0).

posF(9,3). posF(8,3). posF(8,2). posF(7,1). posF(7,2). posF(7,3). posF(6,0). posF(6,1). posF(6,2). 
posF(6,3). posF(5,0). posF(5,1). posF(5,2). posF(5,3). posF(4,0). posF(4,1). posF(4,2). posF(4,3).
posF(2,0). posF(2,1). posF(3,0). posF(3,1). posF(3,2). posF(1,0).

posG(9,2). posG(8,0). posG(8,1). posG(8,2).  posG(7,0). posG(7,1). posG(7,2).
posG(6,0). posG(6,1). posG(6,2). posG(5,0).  posG(5,1). posG(5,2). posG(4,0). posG(4,1). posG(4,2).
posG(3,0). posG(3,1). posG(3,2). posG(2,0).  posG(2,1). posG(1,0).

posH(9,1). posH(8,0). posH(8,1). posH(7,0). posH(7,1). posH(6,0). posH(6,1). posH(5,0). posH(5,1). 
posH(4,0). posH(4,1). posH(3,0). posH(3,1). posH(2,0). posH(1,1). posH(1,0).

posI(9,0). posI(8,0). posI(7,0). posI(6,0). posI(5,0). posI(4,0). posI(3,0). posI(2,0). posI(1,0).  

haveSolution([[A,B,C],[D,E,F],[G,H,I]]):- distManhattan([A,B,C,D,E,F,G,H,I], Z),
                                         posA(A,Pa), posB(B,Pb), posC(C,Pc),
                                         posD(D,Pd), posE(E,Pe), posF(F,Pf),
                                         posG(G,Pg), posH(H,Ph), posI(I,Pi),
                                         P is Pa+Pb+Pc+Pd+Pe+Pf+Pg+Ph+Pg+Pi+Z, 0 is P mod 2,
                                         write('The 8-puzzle have solution').

%%*************************Manhattan distance***********************
distManhattan([A,B,C,D,E,F,G,H,I], Dist):-  A=9, Dist is abs(3-1)+abs(3-1), !;
                                            B=9, Dist is abs(3-1)+abs(3-2), !;
                                            C=9, Dist is abs(3-1)+abs(3-3), !;
                                            D=9, Dist is abs(3-2)+abs(3-1), !;
                                            E=9, Dist is abs(3-2)+abs(3-2), !;
                                            F=9, Dist is abs(3-2)+abs(3-3), !;
                                            G=9, Dist is abs(3-3)+abs(3-1), !;
                                            H=9, Dist is abs(3-3)+abs(3-2), !;
                                            I=9, Dist is abs(3-3)+abs(3-3).

The problem is that I am making a mistake because there are situations where I can have more than one alternative, eg>:

|  1 |  9 | 3  |
|  5 |  2 | 6  |
|  4 |  7 | 8  |    


posA(1,0)+posB(9,7)+posC(3,1)+posD(5,2)+posE(2,0)+posF(6,1)+posG(4,0)+posH(7,0)+posI(8,0).

The right solution for posC(C,Pc) is posC(3,1), that is 1; but there are other ramifications that sometimes cause incorrect outputs ... what am I doing wrong in my code and how I can change it?

Answer 1

This answer looks at the problem from a different point of view:

• Single board configurations are represented using the compound structure board/9.
• Configurations that are equal up to sliding a single piece are connected by relation m/2.

So let's define m/2!

m(board(' ',B,C,D,E,F,G,H,I), board(D, B ,C,' ',E,F,G,H,I)).
m(board(' ',B,C,D,E,F,G,H,I), board(B,' ',C, D ,E,F,G,H,I)).

---

m(board(A,' ',C,D,E,F,G,H,I), board(' ',A, C , D, E ,F,G,H,I)).
m(board(A,' ',C,D,E,F,G,H,I), board( A ,C,' ', D, E ,F,G,H,I)).
m(board(A,' ',C,D,E,F,G,H,I), board( A ,E, C , D,' ',F,G,H,I)).

---

m(board(A,B,' ',D,E,F,G,H,I), board(A,' ',B,D,E, F ,G,H,I)).
m(board(A,B,' ',D,E,F,G,H,I), board(A, B ,F,D,E,' ',G,H,I)).

---

m(board(A,B,C,' ',E,F,G,H,I), board(' ',B,C,A, E ,F, G ,H,I)).
m(board(A,B,C,' ',E,F,G,H,I), board( A ,B,C,E,' ',F, G ,H,I)).
m(board(A,B,C,' ',E,F,G,H,I), board( A ,B,C,G, E ,F,' ',H,I)).

---

m(board(A,B,C,D,' ',F,G,H,I), board(A, B ,C,' ',D, F ,G, H ,I)).
m(board(A,B,C,D,' ',F,G,H,I), board(A,' ',C, D ,B, F ,G, H ,I)).
m(board(A,B,C,D,' ',F,G,H,I), board(A, B ,C, D ,F,' ',G, H ,I)).
m(board(A,B,C,D,' ',F,G,H,I), board(A, B ,C, D ,H, F ,G,' ',I)).

---

m(board(A,B,C,D,E,' ',G,H,I), board(A,B,' ',D, E ,C,G,H, I )).
m(board(A,B,C,D,E,' ',G,H,I), board(A,B, C ,D,' ',E,G,H, I )).
m(board(A,B,C,D,E,' ',G,H,I), board(A,B, C ,D, E ,I,G,H,' ')).

---

m(board(A,B,C,D,E,F,' ',H,I), board(A,B,C,' ',E,F,D, H ,I)).
m(board(A,B,C,D,E,F,' ',H,I), board(A,B,C, D ,E,F,H,' ',I)).

---

m(board(A,B,C,D,E,F,G,' ',I), board(A,B,C,D,' ',F, G ,E, I )).
m(board(A,B,C,D,E,F,G,' ',I), board(A,B,C,D, E ,F,' ',G, I )).
m(board(A,B,C,D,E,F,G,' ',I), board(A,B,C,D, E ,F,  G,I,' ')).

---

m(board(A,B,C,D,E,F,G,H,' '), board(A,B,C,D,E,' ',G, H ,F)).
m(board(A,B,C,D,E,F,G,H,' '), board(A,B,C,D,E, F ,G,' ',H)).

---

Almost done! To connect the steps, we use the meta-predicate path/4 together with length/2 for performing iterative deepening.

The following problem instances are from @CapelliC's answer:

?- length(Path,N), path(m,Path,/* from */ board(1,' ',3,5,2,6,4,7, 8 ),
                               /*  to  */ board(1, 2 ,3,4,5,6,7,8,' ')).
N =  6, Path = [board(1,' ',3,5,2,6,4,7,8), board(1,2,3,5,' ',6,4,7,8),
                board(1,2,3,' ',5,6,4,7,8), board(1,2,3,4,5,6,' ',7,8),
                board(1,2,3,4,5,6,7,' ',8), board(1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,' ')] ? ;
N = 12, Path = [board(1,' ',3,5,2,6,4,7,8), board(1,2,3,5,' ',6,4,7,8),
                board(1,2,3,5,7,6,4,' ',8), board(1,2,3,5,7,6,' ',4,8),
                board(1,2,3,' ',7,6,5,4,8), board(1,2,3,7,' ',6,5,4,8),
                board(1,2,3,7,4,6,5,' ',8), board(1,2,3,7,4,6,' ',5,8),
                board(1,2,3,' ',4,6,7,5,8), board(1,2,3,4,' ',6,7,5,8),
                board(1,2,3,4,5,6,7,' ',8), board(1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,' ')] ? ;
...

?- length(Path,N), path(m,Path,/* from */ board(8,7,4,6,' ',5,3,2, 1 ),
                               /*  to  */ board(1,2,3,4, 5 ,6,7,8,' ')).
N = 27, Path = [board(8,7,4,6,' ',5,3,2,1), board(8,7,4,6,5,' ',3,2,1),
                board(8,7,4,6,5,1,3,2,' '), board(8,7,4,6,5,1,3,' ',2),
                board(8,7,4,6,5,1,' ',3,2), board(8,7,4,' ',5,1,6,3,2),
                board(' ',7,4,8,5,1,6,3,2), board(7,' ',4,8,5,1,6,3,2),
                board(7,4,' ',8,5,1,6,3,2), board(7,4,1,8,5,' ',6,3,2),
                board(7,4,1,8,5,2,6,3,' '), board(7,4,1,8,5,2,6,' ',3),
                board(7,4,1,8,5,2,' ',6,3), board(7,4,1,' ',5,2,8,6,3),
                board(' ',4,1,7,5,2,8,6,3), board(4,' ',1,7,5,2,8,6,3),
                board(4,1,' ',7,5,2,8,6,3), board(4,1,2,7,5,' ',8,6,3),
                board(4,1,2,7,5,3,8,6,' '), board(4,1,2,7,5,3,8,' ',6),
                board(4,1,2,7,5,3,' ',8,6), board(4,1,2,' ',5,3,7,8,6),
                board(' ',1,2,4,5,3,7,8,6), board(1,' ',2,4,5,3,7,8,6),
                board(1,2,' ',4,5,3,7,8,6), board(1,2,3,4,5,' ',7,8,6),
                board(1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,' ')] ? ;
N = 29, Path = [...] ? ;
...