Phenomenology of excitation in 2-D cellular automata and swarm systems

The paper provides some results of a systematic investigation into the global and spacetime behaviour of certain excitable systems. The systems include both static subjects of excitation (the cellular automata model of excitable media); and also excitable mobile agents moving on a lattice (lattice swarm systems). The duration of excitation of a cell of the automaton was the main parameter for the cellular automata model of excitable media. In the case of the lattice swarm systems, parameters included the duration of excitation of a single agent, the distances over which agents interact and excite one another, and the 'state-motion' relationship, i.e. the dependence of the velocity vector of an agent on its internal state. We investigated swarm systems with different numbers of agents and with different models of collision. Many parallels were found between the phenomena in excitable media and those in lattice swarms, and both models offer clear opportunities for modelling certain natural processes, and for solving related problems. (C) 1998 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.