What is the Wumpus world in Artificial Intelligence?

Wumpus is the name of a monster in the video game “Hunt The Wumpus”.

Wumpus world problem

The Wumpus world problem depicts the value of a knowledge-based agent and the interpretation of that knowledge with the help of reasoning and planning.

What is the Wumpus world problem in AI?

The Wumpus world is a 4x4 cave with 16 rooms connected to each other through passageways. The knowledge-based agent goes forward in this world.

In Wumpus World:

  • The cave has a room with a Wumpus, and the game is over when the agent enters the room; however, the Wumpus stays in one room.
  • The agent is given a single arrow that can be used to kill the Wumpus.
  • There are some “Pits” rooms in the cave, and if the agent falls in a Pit, they will be stuck there forever.

Goal

  • The cave has one room with the possibility of a heap of gold. The agent’s goal is to find this gold.

How to “win” it

The agent has to find the gold and climb out of the cave without:

  • Falling into Pits
  • Getting eaten by Wumpus

Additional components to help agent (sensors)

Sensors help the agent move forward successfully.

  • Rooms adjacent to the Wumpus have some stench.
  • If the agent is adjacent to a Pit, then he will perceive a breeze.
  • A room with glitter has gold in it.
  • Wumpus will scream*= when it is killed, which can be heard anywhere in the cave.
  • The agent will feel a bump when they hit a wall.

Wumpus world cave problem

Moves agent can make (actuators)

The following are the moves an agent can make once they enter the cave:

  • Forward
  • Left
  • Right
  • Grab
  • Shoot

Environment

The game has:

  • A 4x4 grid (16 rooms).
  • The agent starts with the room square [1, 1] and facing towards the right.
  • Wumpus and gold can be anywhere except for the first square [1,1].
  • Any room of the cave can be a Pit, except for the first square.

Performance measure

The performance of the agent is measured on the following basis:

  • 1000 reward points if the agent successfully comes out of the cave with gold
  • -1000 points penalty if the agent falls in the Pit or is eaten by Wumpus
  • -1 for each action
  • -10 for using an arrow

Properties of the Wumpus World

  • The game is comprised of a single agent.
  • The agent can perceive the close environment that is the room adjacent to them.
  • The outcomes of the Wumpus World Problem are already known.
  • The order in the Wumpus World Problem is important.
  • Only the agent can move, so the conditions stay constant throughout the game.

Free Resources

License: Creative Commons-Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 (CC-BY-SA 4.0)