The movie below displays our first tentative steps to explore emergent behaviour via the introduction of simple rules. The movie starts out with a basic ‘wander’ behaviour where the agents only knowledge is the shape of the surface. Moving on we assign each of our ‘cubes’ (of which we have become quite fond of…) a level of vision so they can see ahead and therefore avoid each other and objects in their environment.

This model is an attempt to mimic the flocking of birds, while the resulting motion also resembles schools of fish. The flocks that appear in this model are not created or led in any way by special leader rather, each bird is following exactly the same set of rules, from which flocks emerge.

We have exported the model into 3D Max providing the visualisation below, as ever these are early days but the results seem to run well with 300 ‘birds’ over 1000 frames. The birds are rendered as cubes at the moment for proof of concept:

The birds follow three rules: “alignment”, “separation”, and “cohesion”. “Alignment” means that a bird tends to turn so that it is moving in the same direction that nearby birds are moving. “Separation” means that a bird will turn to avoid another bird which gets too close. “Cohesion” means that a bird will move towards other nearby birds (unless another bird is too close). When two birds are too close, the “separation” rule overrides the other two, which are deactivated until the minimum separation is achieved.

The three rules affect only the bird’s heading. Each bird always moves forward at the same constant speed.

If we were using the built in Crowd and Delegate system a true 3D flocking system would be possible, but it would be pure visualisation, by importing via NetLogo you gain access to the raw data and thus spatial analysis is possible. It is also quick to model and provides the best of both worlds – 3d visualisation and complex modelling.

While 3D Max is of use for crowd and particle simulation when it comes to modelling complex systems an external package is required, such as NetLogo. The movie below details our first steps at CASA (home of digital urban) to export a basic traffic model from NetLogo into 3D Studio Max. The import script was written by our new PhD student, Ateen Patel and opens up a vast array of opportunities to both visualise and model the city.

NetLogo is a cross-platform multi-agent programmable modeling environment that is widely. It is particularly well suited for modeling complex systems developing over time. Modelers can give instructions to hundreds or thousands of independent “agents” all operating concurrently. This makes it possible to explore the connection between the micro-level behavior of individuals and the macro-level patterns that emerge from the interaction of many individuals.(Nation Master Encyclopedia).

How does this relate to the city? The next part is to put in real geographical data and to get the agents movies and reacting to each other on a spatial network, more on that to come. Perhaps using a particle system as per the movie below:

The virtual exhibition space h
as been placed on hold due to work pressures on other projects over the last few months but is something we hope to return to soon.

The post 5 Movies on Particles, Agents and Emergent Behaviour appeared first on Digital Urban.

The movie below details where we left off:

The ultimate aim is go from popular agent based modelling packages such as NetLogo or Repast into 3D Max and subsequently out to a game engine.

The movie below shows basic agent based models created directly inside of 3D Max:

Finally, below is output from NetLogo visualised in Max – this is now up and running in Unity so the proof of concept seems to work:

All being well we should have a plugin for 3D Max available in the next quarter allowing direct input for agent based models.

The post NetLogo and Repast to 3DMax to Unity: ABM Visualisation appeared first on Digital Urban.

The movie below details where we left off:

The ultimate aim is go from popular agent based modelling packages such as NetLogo or Repast into 3D Max and subsequently out to a game engine.

The movie below shows basic agent based models created directly inside of 3D Max:

Finally, below is output from NetLogo visualised in Max – this is now up and running in Unity so the proof of concept seems to work:

All being well we should have a plugin for 3D Max available in the next quarter allowing direct input for agent based models.

The post NetLogo and Repast to 3DMax to Unity: ABM Visualisation appeared first on Digital Urban.

A few months ago readers may remember we posted a series of movies produced using output from NetLogo direct in 3D Max – examples included the flocking simulation above and the basic traffic model below:

Both proofs of concept the source code and a tutorial are now available the Crowd Simulation Blog by the Ateen Patel a PhD student at CASA. Ateen has written a short tutorial (including the code) and several other posts on how to get information from a simple NetLogo Traffic Model and visualise it in 3D Max from Autodesk.

NetLogo is a cross-platform multi-agent programmable modeling environment that is widely. It is particularly well suited for modeling complex systems developing over time. Modelers can give instructions to hundreds or thousands of independent “agents” all operating concurrently. This makes it possible to explore the connection between the micro-level behavior of individuals and the macro-level patterns that emerge from the interaction of many individuals.(Nation Master Encyclopedia).

CASA, home of digital urban, has a few blogs of note now, the Crowd Simulation Blog is defiantly worth keeping an eye on for those interested in pedestrian modeling…

The post Netlogo Import into 3D Max: Tutorial and Code appeared first on Digital Urban.

A few months ago readers may remember we posted a series of movies produced using output from NetLogo direct in 3D Max – examples included the flocking simulation above and the basic traffic model below:

Both proofs of concept the source code and a tutorial are now available the Crowd Simulation Blog by the Ateen Patel a PhD student at CASA. Ateen has written a short tutorial (including the code) and several other posts on how to get information from a simple NetLogo Traffic Model and visualise it in 3D Max from Autodesk.

NetLogo is a cross-platform multi-agent programmable modeling environment that is widely. It is particularly well suited for modeling complex systems developing over time. Modelers can give instructions to hundreds or thousands of independent “agents” all operating concurrently. This makes it possible to explore the connection between the micro-level behavior of individuals and the macro-level patterns that emerge from the interaction of many individuals.(Nation Master Encyclopedia).

CASA, home of digital urban, has a few blogs of note now, the Crowd Simulation Blog is defiantly worth keeping an eye on for those interested in pedestrian modeling…

The post Netlogo Import into 3D Max: Tutorial and Code appeared first on Digital Urban.

This model is an attempt to mimic the flocking of birds, while the resulting motion also resembles schools of fish. The flocks that appear in this model are not created or led in any way by special leader rather, each bird is following exactly the same set of rules, from which flocks emerge.

We have exported the model into 3D Max providing the visualisation below, as ever these are early days but the results seem to run well with 300 ‘birds’ over 1000 frames. The birds are rendered as cubes at the moment for proof of concept:

Music “Funkmelon Blooz” (Electronica)

The birds follow three rules: “alignment”, “separation”, and “cohesion”. “Alignment” means that a bird tends to turn so that it is moving in the same direction that nearby birds are moving. “Separation” means that a bird will turn to avoid another bird which gets too close. “Cohesion” means that a bird will move towards other nearby birds (unless another bird is too close). When two birds are too close, the “separation” rule overrides the other two, which are deactivated until the minimum separation is achieved.

The three rules affect only the bird’s heading. Each bird always moves forward at the same constant speed.

If we were using the built in Crowd and Delegate system a true 3D flocking system would be possible, but it would be pure visualisation, by importing via NetLogo you gain access to the raw data and thus spatial analysis is possible. It is also quick to model and provides the best of both worlds – 3d visualisation and complex modelling.

How does this relate to the city? The next part is to put in real geographical data and to get the agents movies and reacting to each other on a spatial network, more on that to come.

You can download NetLogo from here, its comes with a excellent tutorial so you can start building your own model.

The post Flocking: NetLogo to 3DMax appeared first on Digital Urban.

This model is an attempt to mimic the flocking of birds, while the resulting motion also resembles schools of fish. The flocks that appear in this model are not created or led in any way by special leader rather, each bird is following exactly the same set of rules, from which flocks emerge.

We have exported the model into 3D Max providing the visualisation below, as ever these are early days but the results seem to run well with 300 ‘birds’ over 1000 frames. The birds are rendered as cubes at the moment for proof of concept:

Music “Funkmelon Blooz” (Electronica)

The birds follow three rules: “alignment”, “separation”, and “cohesion”. “Alignment” means that a bird tends to turn so that it is moving in the same direction that nearby birds are moving. “Separation” means that a bird will turn to avoid another bird which gets too close. “Cohesion” means that a bird will move towards other nearby birds (unless another bird is too close). When two birds are too close, the “separation” rule overrides the other two, which are deactivated until the minimum separation is achieved.

The three rules affect only the bird’s heading. Each bird always moves forward at the same constant speed.

If we were using the built in Crowd and Delegate system a true 3D flocking system would be possible, but it would be pure visualisation, by importing via NetLogo you gain access to the raw data and thus spatial analysis is possible. It is also quick to model and provides the best of both worlds – 3d visualisation and complex modelling.

How does this relate to the city? The next part is to put in real geographical data and to get the agents movies and reacting to each other on a spatial network, more on that to come.

You can download NetLogo from here, its comes with a excellent tutorial so you can start building your own model.

The post Flocking: NetLogo to 3DMax appeared first on Digital Urban.

While 3D Max is of use for crowd and particle simulation when it comes to modelling complex systems an external package is required, such as NetLogo. The movie below details our first steps at CASA (home of digital urban) to export a basic traffic model from NetLogo into 3D Studio Max. The import script was written by our new PhD student, Ateen Patel and opens up a vast array of opportunities to both visualise and model the city.

Music by The Tedd-Z Cookbook, Aerodrome (Funky Shuffle Remix)

NetLogo is a cross-platform multi-agent programmable modeling environment that is widely. It is particularly well suited for modeling complex systems developing over time. Modelers can give instructions to hundreds or thousands of independent “agents” all operating concurrently. This makes it possible to explore the connection between the micro-level behavior of individuals and the macro-level patterns that emerge from the interaction of many individuals.(Nation Master Encyclopedia)

We will have more posts on complex systems and visualising the city over the coming weeks and months.

See http://gisagents.blogspot.com/ for more on modelling, agents and the city.

The post NetLogo to 3DMax: Complex Models and 3D Visualisation appeared first on Digital Urban.

While 3D Max is of use for crowd and particle simulation when it comes to modelling complex systems an external package is required, such as NetLogo. The movie below details our first steps at CASA (home of digital urban) to export a basic traffic model from NetLogo into 3D Studio Max. The import script was written by our new PhD student, Ateen Patel and opens up a vast array of opportunities to both visualise and model the city.

Music by The Tedd-Z Cookbook, Aerodrome (Funky Shuffle Remix)

NetLogo is a cross-platform multi-agent programmable modeling environment that is widely. It is particularly well suited for modeling complex systems developing over time. Modelers can give instructions to hundreds or thousands of independent “agents” all operating concurrently. This makes it possible to explore the connection between the micro-level behavior of individuals and the macro-level patterns that emerge from the interaction of many individuals.(Nation Master Encyclopedia)

We will have more posts on complex systems and visualising the city over the coming weeks and months.

See http://gisagents.blogspot.com/ for more on modelling, agents and the city.

The post NetLogo to 3DMax: Complex Models and 3D Visualisation appeared first on Digital Urban.