NAME
termite - simulate a population of termites
SYNOPSIS
termite -help
or
termite
[-width integer] [-height integer] [-num integer]
[-dense double] [-steps integer] [-seed integer]
[-inv] [-mag integer] [-term string]
DESCRIPTION
Simulate a population of termites which do a random walk
while possibly carrying a wood chip. Under normal circum-
stances, the termites will self-organize and move the wood
chips into piles without a global leader. The termites'
behavior is dictated by the following set of rules: If a
termite is not carrying anything and she bumps into a
chip, then she picks it up, reverses direction, and con-
tinues with the random walk. If she is carrying a chip
and bumps into another, she drops her chip, turns around,
and starts walking again. Otherwise, she just does a ran-
dom walk whether she is carrying a chip or not.
OPTIONS
-width integer
Width of the plot in pixels.
-height integer
Height of the plot in pixels.
-num integer
Number of termites in population.
-dense double
Density of chips at start.
-steps integer
Number of simulated steps.
-seed integer
Random seed for initial state.
-inv Invert all colors?
-mag integer
Magnification factor.
-term string
How to plot points.
MISCELLANY
The walking pattern of the termites is not actually a
strict random walk. Instead, at each time step they
randomly turn -45, 0, or 45 degrees with equal probabil-
ity.
BUGS
No sanity checks are performed to make sure that any of
the options make sense.
AUTHOR
Copyright (c) 1997, Gary William Flake.
Permission granted for any use according to the standard
GNU ``copyleft'' agreement provided that the author's com-
ments are neither modified nor removed. No warranty is
given or implied.
