Abstract:

This work places in the subject of Modeling taught in the fourth course of the degree of “Civil Engineering” in the University School of Technical Engineering of Mines and of Public Works in the University of the Basque Country (UPV/EHU). In this subject students learn how to model a problem mathematically and how to solve it by means of mathematical programming. At the end of this subject students are required to develop a project in which they have to use different strategies and skills learnt during the subject. In this work, the problem of the n-queens is tackled, which can be developed as a project, as it can be modeled mathematically and solved computationally using different strategies known in the subject. We define the problem, we solve it using different algorithms and we present a comparison of the algorithms. Students having to develop this type of project can use this work as an example of what is expected from them as a final project.

Keywords:

N-queens problem, backtracking, recursive algorithms, MATLAB.