Artificial Ants

1
Artificial Ants

• Book report on Turtles, Termites, and Traffic
  Jams Explorations in Massively Parallel
  Microworlds (Complex Adaptive Systems), Ch 3 -
  Mitchel Resnick 1997.
• by Pheleah C. Reyes

2
Myrmecology

• The study of ants
• Artificial Life ALife Community
• Ant Farms
• Interest in ants
• A Bugs Life
• Ants
• Why the interest?

3
Why relate this to our class?

• Ant Colonies
• A prototypical example of how complex-group
  behavior can arise from simple-individual
  behavior.
• Ant/Colony Relationship
• Interesting way or model for thinking about
  other group/individual relationships.
• Learn how computer programs such as StarLogo can
  be used to stimulate multi-agent reaction.

4
Ant Workers

• Can be seen easily
• Can manipulate insect societies
• Artificial ants are easy to control and and
  observe

5
How ants collect and find food

• Individually
• Experience
• Recruitment Strategies
• Direct Communication
• Indirect Communication

6
The Four Demons

• In the StarLogo Program, each ants actions are
  controlled by the following forces or demons
• 1. Tells the ant how to look for food
• 2. Tells the ant what to do when it finally bumps
  into the food
• 3. Tells the ant how to return to the nest
• 4. Tells the ant what to do when it gets back to
  the nest

7
When the Program Runs

• 100 ants run or stream from the nest
• green pheromone trail
• ants attack the source that is closer to the nest
• systematic plan
• low-level parallel interactions

8
Causes of Planlike Behavior

• A needed critical density of ants
• The critical density depends on the distance of
  the food source
• more ants are needed to counterbalance the forces
  of diffusion and evaporation

9
Food Sources

• Seen as competitors that try to attract a stable
  trail of ants
• Ants are attracted by the closest food source
• A colony of a stable trail
• The Decision Between 2 Food Sources?

10
StarLogo Program

• http//www.media.mit.edu/macstarlogo/projects/ants
  .html