Cork Institute of Technology
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Bachelor of Science (Honours) in Software Development - Award
(NFQ Level 8)
Autumn 2006
Artificial Intelligence
(Time: 3 Hours)
Answer any FOUR questions
(All questions carry equal marks).
Examiners: Dr. M. Ó Cinnéide
Mr. M. Donnelly
Mr. P. Rothwell
1. (a) Using the following program and query as an example write a general
description of Prolog in terms of its syntax, list handling, and the use of
recursion. Include a brief description of the effect of this program.
prog(X, X ,[X]).
prog(X, Y, L):- X > Y, prog(Y, X, L).
prog(X, Y, [X | L]):- X1 is X + 1, prog(X1, Y, L).
?- prog(1, 10, L). [10 marks]
(b) The following Prolog code defines a non-deterministic finite state automaton
whose alphabet is {a,b} and where the initial state is s1.
final(s2). trans(s1,b,s3). trans(s1,b,s2). trans(s1,a,s4). trans(s1,a,s1).
trans(s2,a,s1). trans(s2,a,s4). trans(s4,a,s3). silent(s1,s4). silent(s4,s2).
Define the predicate accept(S, String) [where S = starting state and String = a
list containing the input string] which could be used to decide if String is
accepted by the automaton defined above. [4 marks]
Show and explain how your code would deal with the following queries.
?- accept(s1, [b,a,a,a,b]).
?- accept(s1, [X,Y,Z]). [4 marks]
(c) Write a Prolog program to attempt to build a list L that contains three 1s,
three 2s, and three 3s in a sequence so that for all digits n = 1, 2, 3 there are
exactly n digits between successive n’s. Give a brief explanation of your
program.
[7 marks]
[Total: 25 marks]
