Ecosystems – Scavenger

Description

The aim of the Scavenger project is to simulate and understand the evolutional development of a complex ecosystem. The simulator program is a virtual machine inside the computer. It has its own separated memory and the virtual creatures / programs are living here. The system has its own simple structured programming language (no GOTO-like instructions are allowed). The creatures - called „scavengers” – are built by atomical instructions and are managed as separated blocks/bricks, and there is no „instruction copy” in the system, only the moving of instructions is possible. Each creature is reproducing itself, and moves instruction blocks from its surroundings to an empty area and builds a new scavenger. The system makes mutation of instructions (it changes the parameter or the type of the instruction with a small probability during the move processes). We analyze the development of three kinds of networks:

• The network of complex ecosystems – the virtual interactions between the creatures during a simulation
• The networks inside the scavengers – the complexity, modularity of their instruction-networks
• The family trees of creatures –the developing of digital creatures during the simulation, effected by other creatures and/or mutation

Hungarian homepage: http://scavenger.uw.hu

Note: New participants in project Scavenger are highly welcomed! :-)