Students compete in groups to create the best heuristic to an NP-hard problem.
Students are placed in groups and receive an NP-hard problem. They are asked to design a good heuristic to the problem, create an input to the problem, and a program which, given an input and output, will verify if the output is a valid solution to the input.
Groups upload their inputs to the problem and select a team name.
Groups run all inputs on their solution program and upload their outputs to the site.
Groups verify that each solution to their input from all other groups is valid.
Groups with rejections may upload new outputs for a penalty, or protest rejections.
All outputs for all inputs become available, and teams may protest any verification.
Everyone evaluates their teammates effort to be considered in their grade.
Grades are assigned according to the following percentages:
| Input Uploaded | 5% |
|---|---|
| Input Difficulty | 10% |
| Valid Outputs | 50% |
| Verification Accuracy | 20% |
| Rankings |
15%, assigned by rank within benchmark:
|
This rubric is designed in such a way that approximately 80% of the grade can be received without a competitive solution.
Your individualized grade is a scaled version of your group grade based on evaluation responses from others in your group.
All deadlines for each stage of the competition are strict. Since this is a whole-class project, we need input upload to be complete before output upload may begin, we need output upload to be complete before verification can begin, etc. Students are encouraged to upload early to avoid missing deadlines. The site will not allow you to participate in a competition stage after it ends.
If you miss a deadline due to an approved absence, you should contact your instructor to provide an alternative activity for that portion of the grade.