Separation of representations of the ontology

[Fred Wan]

Hi,

Actually this is more a question for the modelling list, but I post it to
the support list as well since it also applies to the examples provided with
the 'start-up' packages.

In the SimpleBug and Heatbug examples there is a separation of the
representation of the food or heat from the agents. In these cases in which
there is a simple ontology it doesn't really make much difference if these
are separated, although in this case it is convenient to do so. What I'm
wondering about is to what extent to separate the representation of the
entities when things get more complex. Consider for instance:

-Multiple heterogeneous agents, e.g., hunters and prey and evolving agents.
Should different kinds of agents be represented in different lists, which
are then superimposed on the 'physical' 2d grid-world (the ZoomRasterImpl)?
It would be easier to simulate homogeneous sub-group behaviour, but is this
a (biologically) plausible way to do that?

-Communication between agents, especially when it is non-directed. For
instance, agents may send out alarms when they see a predator, but this
signal is non-directional and the sender has no way of knowing which agent
picks it up. In this case the physics of the world determine how far the
signal is carried. Should this be represented separately? Perhaps like a
FoodSpace, but instead of food the representations are soundwaves or photons
that move across the 2d grid?

-A general social structure. Agents may have a social structure internalized
which accounts for the distribution of reward gathered from, e.g., food
collection.

-Obstacles in the world. On top of hunters, prey and communication there may
also be physical obstacles or other kinds of structure in the world that
obstructs movement of entities and phenomena.

Any pointers to literature that address these questions will be appreciated
as well.

Thanks,
Fred.



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