1. 1 Virtual Bumblebees James P. Howard, II MathFest5 August
2015 Washington, DC
2. 2 Artificial life uses information concepts and computer
modeling to study life in general, and terrestrial life in
particular. It aims to explain particular vital phenomena, ranging
from the origin of biochemical metabolisms to the coevolution of
behavioral strategies, and also the abstract properties of life as
such (life as it could be). Artificial Life The MIT Encyclopedia of
the Cognitive Sciences, (Cambridge, Mass: MIT Press, 1999),
37.
3. 3 Squares on a plane are colored variously either black or
white. We arbitrarily identify one square as the "ant". The ant can
travel in any of the four cardinal directions at each step it
takes. The ant moves according to the rules below: At a white
square, turn 9o right, flip the color of the square, move forward
one unit At a black square, turn 90 left, flip the color of the
square, move forward one unit The Virtual Ants Rules Langton's ant.
(n.d.). In Wikipedia. Retrieved July 22, 2015, from
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Langton%27s_ant.
4. 4 Langton Ant Demonstration
5. 5 Steven Levy and Artificial Life Steven Levy /
VintageMarion Ettlinger / Steven Levy
6. 6 The vant itself was a V-shaped construct that moved in the
direction of its point. If the lead cell moved into a blank square
on the imaginary grid, the vant continued moving in that direction.
If the square was blue, the vant turned right and changed the color
of that cell to yellow. If the square was yellow, the vant turned
left and changed the color of the square to blue. Levy's
Description Steven Levy, Artificial Life: A Report from the
Frontier Where Computers Meet Biology, Pantheon Books, 1992,
104.
7. 7 1. At a red dot, turn 90 degrees to the right, turn the
dot blue, and move forward one cell; 2. At a blue dot, turn 90
degrees to left, turn the dot red, and move forward one cell; and
3. At an empty square, move forward one cell. Bumblebee Rules
8. 8 Vants reside in an environment that consists of uniformly
spaced, fixed cells that are in one of two states (either blue or
yellow in the following figures). A vant travels in a straight line
in empty space. If it encounters a blue cell, it turns fight and
leaves the cell colored yellow. If it encounters a yellow cell, it
turns left and leaves the cell colored blue. The Langton Ant
Christopher G. Langton, Studying artificial life with cellular
automata. Physica D: Nonlinear Phenomena, 22(1), 120-149.
9. 9 Chases Initial Vector
10. 10 Beatrixs Initial Vector
11. 11 Bumblebee Explosion
12. 12 Langton Ant Simulator
13. 13 Applications Eusocial behavior Network traffic Awful
screensavers Next Steps Extend to 3, 4, or n dimensions Determine
if the bees are turmites Whats Next
