14-15 Sam Loyd Tiles Puzzle| Info-Gap Decision Theory | Voodoo Decision-Making | Robust Decisions | Severe Uncertainty | Satisficing vs Optimizing | Maximin |
14-15 Sam Loyd Tiles PuzzleUsed to play with this puzzle as a kid. My recollection is that I was fascinated more by the mechanical aspects of the (plastic) device used to move the titles than the game itself ....
Only years later I discovered that his game - apparently the invention of the American mathematician Sam Loyd - is in fact educationally rich.
From an OR/MS perspective it can be used for a number of the purposes. Firstly, if you have not done it before, try to formulate it mathematically. it is an excellent modelling exercise!
Secondly, there seems to be no efficient OR/MS based solution algorithm for this game. I tried the (obvious) DP/BB approach but a preliminary examination suggests that it is not very efficient.
The tutOR module (called 8 Easy Pieces) merely enables you to play with the puzzle.
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