DCS 440: Artificial Intelligence
Project
Due Dec 13

Contents
Summary
Hand In
The Last Class
Summary

This is it. You've mapped your domain. You've sketched the organization of the task. You've seen what algorithms and what information you need to apply. There's nothing left but the nitty gritty of putting it all together and seeing what happens. Good luck!

At at least one point during the next couple weeks (and by Dec 8, so I get a chance to comment), I expect you to email an update showing progress towards completing your task from the initial bit.


What to hand in

I want to see three kinds of things in the record for your project. All three should be handed in by December 13.

  • An html document providing an overview of the project, suitable for adding to the class web page. It should outline what the domain is for the project program; it should describe an illustrative example of using the project program; it should describe what techniques the program uses; and (optionally) it should describe unexpected problems you encountered writing the program or pitfalls in the domain that you discovered. Feel free to draw on the work you've already done in earlier parts of the project to describe the domain and the program - as long as those descriptions accurately reflect how the program actually works.

    For those who aren't used to html, here is a template that you can use to prepare your project description. To fill it in, you can use a text editor (like emacs on romulus/remus, but even microsoft word can be coaxed into creating plain text files) to insert descriptions at the appropriate fields in the templates. Paragraph breaks are created by inserting the three-character sequence <p> between blocks of text; for more information you can see a basic html guide, but nothing more than paragraphing is expected for the assignment.

    Since I'll be using your overview electronically, you should provide it electronically by mailing the plain text file to me.

  • The code you have written.

  • The output of representative sample runs of the program, chosen to illustrate the breadth and sophistication of your program's behavior. These two things may be handed in on paper at the final class or emailed to me.


The Last Classes

The last two class meetings will be devoted to project presentations and discussions. So, in addition to your electronic handin, be prepared to speak for about five minutes about your project during these meetings.

Five minutes of talk allows you to present about a page of material, so you won't be able to go into very much detail. Try to aim for an entertaining and enticing overview of what task you're addressing, what your program can do about it and what kinds of techniques it uses. Your aim should be that your presentation will make people want to look at the web page for your project and find out more about it.