![]() |
|
HomeworkMCB 419 Homework 5 (Spring 2009)Bot foragingIn this assignment, you'll analyze the foraging behavior of two classes of bots. The NetLogo code has already been written; you won't have to WRITE any new code this week, but you will have to READ the code and understand it. Here's the NetLogo code for the demo program: hw05_forage.nlogo. Answer the questions found on the 'Assignment' tab and email your responses to mcb419@gmail.com with 'hw05' in the Subject line. This assignment is due by 11:59PM (midnight) on Tue, Feb 24. AssignmentYou can access a copy of the assignment file HERE, or copy and paste from the text below. ================================================================= MCB 419 Homework 5 (Spring 2009) When you've finished answering all the questions, email a copy of this file (hw05.txt) with your responses as PLAIN TEXT in the main body of the email message. Email to mcb419@gmail.com with 'hw05' in the Subject line. ================================================================= Bot Foraging Demo Run the simulation and refer to the NetLogo code to answer these questions. SENSING 1. Unlike previous examples, the patches don't have an an 'intensity' or 'concentration' variable. Explain how the bot sensors are able to respond to the green food pellets in this simulation. 2. What is the power-law relationship between sensor activation and distance of a food pellet? 3. The sensors have a finite sensing range. What is the maximum distance that a food pellet can be detected? 4. The sensors have a finite angular acceptance. How many degrees of angular coverage do the sensors provide? Can the bot sense a food particle that is behind it? FOOD CONSUMPTION, METABOLISM 5. Run the simulation for about 1000 ticks. Note that the bots are not all the same size. What is the relationship between bot 'energy' and bot 'size' in this simulation? 6. How much energy does a bot gain when it consumes a food pellet? How much energy does it lose per tick when not consuming food? On average, how often does a bot need to consume a food pellet in order to just "break even"? 7. What happens to a food pellet after it is consumed? How many ticks elapse before the pellet can be consumed by another bot? BOT REPRODUCTION, DEATH 7. How much energy does a bot need to accumulate before it can reproduce? When a bot does reproduce, how many offpsring does it have? How is the parent bot's energy distributed between itself and its offspring? 8. How much energy is a baby bot born with? At what energy level will a bot die? Giving the basal metabolic rate from #6 above, how long would a baby bot live (in ticks) if it doesn't find food. BEHAVIOR 9. What class of Braitenberg vehicle controller is implemented by the red bots? Are connections between sensors and motors crossed or uncrossed? excitatory or inhibitory? 10. In your own words, without using NetLogo code, describe the control strategy that is implemented by the yellow bots. How do they behave when they don't have sensor data? How do they behave when sensor data is available? 11. Run the simulation for about 5000 steps. When class of bots (red or yellow) seems to have the advantage? What factors do you think contribute to the relative performance advantage of one class over the other? 12. The yellow bots sometimes seem to 'flock' or 'school' together. What do you think explains this apparent collective behavior? ================================================================= END OF THE ASSIGNMENT ================================================================= SolutionNo NetLogo code to post this week. |