While a number puzzle based on a "Sudoku" grid isn't on par with today's AI systems, GitHub is trending a new approach to the challenge because it actually incorporates computer vision technology. Users only need to take pictures of Sudoku puzzles on newspapers or scripts, and the GUI smart Sudoku solver will automatically convert the images into computer-friendly language, then find and output the answers.
The GUI Sudoku solver is the brainchild of Neeramitra Reddy, an undergraduate student in the Department of Computer Science and Engineering at the National Institute of Technology, Karnataka, India.
Installation is fairly simple: download Python, create a virtual environment and clone the repository, then connect to the Internet to create the knn.sav file in about five to ten minutes. Then the smart sudoku solver is able to run offline using only local files. By default, the modeltype variable is set to the K-Nearest Neighbors algorithm for identification, as this yielded the highest accuracy in experiments. However, users can also choose to set it up as a convolutional neural network.
The 3% misidentification rate estimated by the KNN model can be eliminated through a user interface that manually reviews and edits any erroneous entries before the engine solves the puzzle.
About 10 years ago, Swedish developer Hans Andersson built an interesting Sudoku solver based on a Lego mobile robot that used light sensors to navigate and detect numbers on a Sudoku puzzle printout, then used a recursive backtracking algorithm to solve the puzzle. This new AI Sudoku solver looks like an upgraded version of Lego Robotics, with faster processing times, greater portability, and fewer limitations.
For more information on the model's Gaussian Blur stage, noise removal, and other image processing stages, visit the project's GitHub page.
Further reading:
Sudoku game (Japanese: Sudoku すうどく) is a mathematical intelligence puzzle game that originated in Switzerland at the end of the 18th century, developed in the United States, and flourished in Japan.
The jigsaw puzzle is a square shape of a nine-square grid (that is, 3 grids wide by 3 grids high), and each grid is subdivided into a nine-square grid. In each small nine-square grid, fill in numbers from 1 to 9, so that the numbers in each column and row of the entire big nine-square grid are not repeated. The logic of Sudoku is simple, and the arrangement of numbers is ever-changing. Many educators believe that Sudoku is a good way to exercise the brain.