The travelling salesman problem

Introduction

The travelling salesman problem is a legendary math problem. The question is, how to find the shortest path to visit all the given cities and to come back home. To make the game interesting, many cities are needed, and thus a rather large floor area.

Aim

Distance, time. Geography.

Robot

Almost any robot will do, though we use Asimov 2/ Verne robot.

Sensors

No sensors are used, except the servo motors.

Theory

Write (or print) the names of cities (eg. European capitals) into papers. The Wikipedia page includes 50 countries, and that might be too much, but choose 7 to 15 cities to be distributed and taped onto the floor.

Using only green steering blocks, try to visit as many cities as possible, and minimizing the travel distance or travelling time.

Exercises

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