SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR SOLVING MULTIPLE INTERACTING STATE-SPACE SEARCH PROBLEMS

A combinatorial search method and system is implemented in a computer control system for utilizing state-space planning of operations for multi-step production processes. The planner considers various possible combinations of actions, searching for one that correctly transforms the initial state of the object (or commodity) into the specified desired final state, where each combination of actions the planner considers is called a search node. Each node contains a plan representing a series of actions of a plurality of machines on a single object and also containing the predicted state of the object with those actions applied either forward or backward. The state of the object consists of the set of attributes of the object. The method and system include multiple individual state-space search operations having a plurality of nodes, at least some of the nodes include children, and the children of the nodes represent potential solutions to existing problems to be solved, and the multiple state-space search operations are linked into a single search tree.