Swarm modelling

The reason for choosing swarms as a study case is the fascination of the simplicity of its mechanics and its complexity as a phenomenon. It can be compared in that sense with other models such as Cellular Automata, for example, with which shares some similarities (they are parallel systems, they interact at a local level, etc).
This paper describes the swarms understanding them as examples of sensori-motor
intelligence. It begins addressing some issues already patent when studying simple turtles, and
then it looks at two ways of interaction of the swarm and their implications. It studies the
interaction with an environment in relation with learning processes and simple perceptions of
forms, and then uses the processes developed in this first cases to look at the possibilities of
interaction of the swarm with a human, and its similarities with other systems such as Genetic
Algorithms or social systems.

Citation:
Carranza, P.M. and Coates, P.S. (2000) ‘Swarm modelling’, Proceedings of the 3rd Generative Art Conference (GA2000), Milan: Generative Design Lab Milan Polytechnic University, Italy..