Fire Simulation

In the fire simulation I noticed that the more dense the forest is, the more fuel there is for the fire, therefore the fire spreads more. This simulation shows how a fire can spread throughout a forest. In the simulation, the fire starts at one end of the forest (the left side of the screen) and moves to the right. I found that at 55% density, there is more space between trees, resulting in the fire not spreading as easily. 70% burns all the way to the other side of the forest, however it left some patches of forest untouched. At 59% density, the program states that there is a 50/50 chance of the fire reaching the other side, however I observed that there is a 1/8 chance that this will happen. I extended the project by changing neighbors4 to neighbors. This allowed the fire to spread in all eight directions. I found that at a 59 percent density and with the fire spreading in all eight directions (including diagonals) that there is a 100% chance of the fire reaching the other side of the forest. Some patches of green that remain un-burnt can be found scattered throughout the ocean of fire.

Slime

This simulation shows how slime mold cells can form clumps. The turtles drop a pheromone that can tracked by others through the sense of smell. The three variables that you can control in the simulation are the wiggle angle, the wiggle bias, the threshold, and the sniff angle. I found the following:

If the sniff angle is at 0, then the slime vibrates in the same location in a circular pattern.

If all variables are set to 100% (or greatest on scale), then clumps are formed.

Turtles move in and out of clumps at random.

Sniff angle determines the cluster formation.

The sniff threshold seems to exchange the movement of turtles between clusters.

Moths

In this simulation, we are shown the moth's attraction to light. Firstly, I would like to point out that moths like flying in circles, whether it is around light or not. However, I noticed that they fly in a more precise circle when around a light source. I observed that with no lights, the moths just fly randomly around the screen. When you add one light to the landscape, the moths become attracted to it and begin to cluster around it. The brighter the light, the tighter the cluster will be and the moths will be able to arrange themselves in a cluster formation in a more in faster time. The higher the sensitivity is set, the looser the cluster will be. The turn angle can be set to determine at what angle the moth will turn away from the light when it comes close to it. When this turn angle is set at 180%, the moth keeps on going back to the light because of the fact that 180 degrees is a complete circle, and it henceforth can't get closer to the light.

Conclusion

In conclusion, I have found that the coding in NetLogo is confusing and difficult, however using the models that are bundled with the software is fun and useful. It is very cool to see these simulations and just think about them.