Re: CSE 471: Accessible and Deterministic

[Subbarao Kambhampati <rao@asu.edu>]

From: Nicholas Radtke <radtken@aztecfreenet.org>
Subject: CSE 471: Accessible and Deterministic
Date: Thu, 04 Sep 2003 20:15:42 -0700
Message-ID: <200309042015.AA51577038@www.dependanet.com>

radtken> Dr. Kambhampati,
radtken> 
radtken> I've been working on the 1st homework assignment
radtken> and I'm stumped on the first question.  It seems
radtken> that whenever something is completely accessible,
radtken> it is also deterministic.  That is, I cannot
radtken> identify a situation where an agent, given
radtken> access to enough information, will not be able
radtken> to know its state after executing an action.
radtken> Perhaps you can provide an example or give me a
radtken> pointer on how to create such a situation?

You say an action is deterministic if you can _predict_ exactly what
state you will get into after the action. Prediction is the
key. Tossing a coin is non-deterministic because you can't predict
whether the coin will come heads or tails. After the coin is tossed,
you can of course tell what state actually happened (assuming you have 
sensors)--but _before_, you have no way of predicting..

hope this helps.

Rao


radtken> 
radtken> Thanks,
radtken> 
radtken> Nicholas
radtken>