Biologically inspired ant colony simulation. (20th November 2018)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Xiang, Wei; Ren, Jiaping; Wang, Kuan; Deng, Zhigang; Jin, Xiaogang
• Is Part Of: Computer animation and virtual worlds. Volume 30:Number 5(2019)
• Page Start: n/a
• Page End: n/a
• Publication Date: 2018-11-20
• Subjects: ant colony simulation -- biologically inspired -- information transfer -- unified motion controller; Computer animation -- Periodicals; Visualization -- Periodicals; 006.6
• DOI: 10.1002/cav.1867
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1546-4261

Abstract

Abstract: We present a unified biologically inspired approach to simulate ant colonies inspired by the key observation of collective behaviors of ants in nature. To generate the trajectories of virtual ants, we construct a motion controller to determine the motion states and the paths of virtual ants, considering dynamic internal and external interactions. The motion controller computes a target position for each ant at every time step according to its motion states. The motion states include four states: basic movement, the stop state, and two dynamic interactions (i.e., internal and external, respectively referring to interaction with neighbors for necessary information transfer about the destination, and interaction with surroundings such as food sources, nests, and obstacles) to represent basic exploration, casual or intentional stop, and purposeful movement, respectively. Based on the motion states, the motion controller plans an optimal path for each virtual ant. Through many simulation experiments, we demonstrate that our method is controllable, scalable, and flexible to simulate hybrid colonies with a large number of ants. Abstract : We present a unified biologically inspired approach to simulate ant colonies inspired by the key observation of collective behaviors of ants in nature. To generate the trajectories of virtual ants, we construct a motion controller to determine the motion states and the paths of virtual ants, considering dynamic internal and external interactions. The motion controller computes a target position for each ant at every time step according to its motion states.