Last semester I took an artificial intelligence class that used Pacman as a teaching tool. At the end of the semester, there was a tournament where each team could pit their Pacman AI client against each other in a game of Pacman-style capture the flag. We submitted our clients to a server and then waited 24 hours or so for the results to appear. If your client crashed, you had to wait another 24 hours to see your standings.

My idea is this:

• Create a PyMW application that runs Pacman tournaments
• Each job will be 3 matches between two clients
• An animated GIF will be created for one of the 3 matches (one that agrees with the outcome)
• The BOINC interface will be used so students can contribute compute time
• The output of the PyMW application will be records in a MySQL database
• Create a website for statistics

To test the tournament server, I am going to get the AI client code from last semester’s teams and then run it on the BOINC Alpha group. This should provide a solid test of the PyMW BOINC interface and my tournament server.

I’m taking an Artificial Intelligence class this semester, and the class uses Pacman (in Python) as a pedagogical tool for learning AI. What a great idea! The projects typically start off by asking you to play a game of Pacman, and then dive into the content.

Here is one of the projects, if you are interested.

Also, if you want to use this system at your school, I think they are actively seeking other instructors to try it. Contact Dan Klein if you are interested in more information.