English

The Camel-Banana Problem

History and Overview 2024-04-05 v2 Optimization and Control

Abstract

A camel can carry one banana at a time on its back. It is on a diet and therefore can only have one banana at a time in its stomach. As soon as it has eaten a banana it walks a mile and then it needs a new banana (in order to be able to continue its itinerary). Let there be a stock of N bananas at the border of the desert. How far can the camel penetrate into the desert, starting at this point? (Of course it can form new stocks with transported bananas.)

Cite

@article{arxiv.2403.19667,
  title  = {The Camel-Banana Problem},
  author = {Michiel de Bondt},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2403.19667},
  year   = {2024}
}

Comments

8 pages, 3 eps-figures. The camel-banana problem by David Klarner is solved. The proof of Lemma B in v1 has been replaced by a shorter proof

R2 v1 2026-06-28T15:37:30.214Z