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An automatic solver for very large jigsaw puzzles using genetic algorithms

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Abstract

In this paper we propose the first effective genetic algorithm (GA)-based jigsaw puzzle solver. We introduce a novel crossover procedure that merges two “parent” solutions to an improved “child” configuration by detecting, extracting, and combining correctly assembled puzzle segments. The solver proposed exhibits state-of-the-art performance, as far as handling previously attempted puzzles more accurately and efficiently, as well puzzle sizes that have not been attempted before. The extended experimental results provided in this paper include, among others, a thorough inspection of up to 30,745-piece puzzles (compared to previous attempts on 22,755-piece puzzles), using a considerably faster concurrent implementation of the algorithm. Furthermore, we explore the impact of different phases of the novel crossover operator by experimenting with several variants of the GA. Finally, we compare different fitness functions and their effect on the overall results of the GA-based solver.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Computer Science, Bar-Ilan University, 52900, Ramat Gan, Israel

    Dror Sholomon, Omid E. David & Nathan S. Netanyahu

  2. Center for Automation Research, University of Maryland, College Park, MD, 20742, USA

    Nathan S. Netanyahu

Authors
  1. Dror Sholomon
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  2. Omid E. David
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  3. Nathan S. Netanyahu
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Omid E. David.

Additional information

A preliminary version of this paper appeared in Proceedings of the IEEE Computer Vision and Pattern Recognition Conference [19].

Area Editor for Games: Moshe Sipper.

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Sholomon, D., David, O.E. & Netanyahu, N.S. An automatic solver for very large jigsaw puzzles using genetic algorithms. Genet Program Evolvable Mach 17, 291–313 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10710-015-9258-0

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10710-015-9258-0

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