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

Myrmecology §The study of ants §Artificial Life “ALife” Community §Ant Farms §Interest in ants §“A Bug’s Life” “Ants” §Why the interest?

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.

Ant Workers §Can be seen easily §Can manipulate insect societies §Artificial ants are easy to control and and observe

How ants collect and find food §Individually §Experience §Recruitment Strategies Direct Communication Indirect Communication

The Four “Demons” In the StarLogo Program, each ant’s 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

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

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

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?

StarLogo Program § jects/ants.html