How Can Ant Pheromone Behavior be Simulated in a Computer Program?

[mXSCNT]

I want to simulate some "ants" on a computer, as a cellular automaton. I'm not going for realism, but I want to capture the ability of ants to find paths between nests and food sources, using pheremone information (stigmergy), and purely _local_ observations. I've been working on a program for this but I'm having difficulty getting the pheremones to work.

My attempts have resulted in a few interesting images, such as this one:
http://img24.imageshack.us/my.php?image=bluerock.tif

But my attempts are not successful at leading the ants to food. I'm wondering what I'm doing wrong, and hoping some biology will aid me.

Does an ant use multiple kinds of pheremone for leaving trails?

If you have a pheremone trail running north-south between food at the north and a nest at the south, and you put an ant on the trail facing south, will it turn around to go for the food, or will it follow in the same direction it was set down? (in other words is there something in the pheremones to indicate direction or is it just intensity?)

If it is just intensity, do ants derive direction from the intensity, by following the pheremone gradient? Or do they just go more or less straight while staying close to the pheremones?

From how far away can an ant detect food or smell pheremone trails? How far do ants travel from the nest in search of food?

Do foraging ants try to get close to (or far away from) other foraging ants, or do they only care about the pheremones?

Do ants constantly drop pheremones to get others to follow, or only after they have found food?

 

[jim mcnamara]

No direction per se, but ants accumulate more pheromone molecules on the shortest path to food. So every path has to 'remember' how many of your ants traversed it.
And ants have to 'smell out' the most heavily used path.

Google for 'ant colony algorithm' or 'adaptive pheromone path planning'

 

[quicknote]

I find your simulation of ant behavior using pheromones and local observations to be a fascinating idea. Ants are known for their efficient foraging and communication abilities, and it would be interesting to see how these behaviors can be simulated in a cellular automaton.

Firstly, let me address your question about the use of multiple types of pheromones by ants. Yes, ants do use different types of pheromones for different purposes. For example, they use trail pheromones to mark paths between food sources and their nest, and they use alarm pheromones to signal danger to other ants. So, incorporating multiple types of pheromones in your simulation may help to make it more realistic.

In terms of an ant's response to a pheromone trail, it is a combination of both intensity and direction. Ants are able to detect the intensity of the pheromone trail and follow it, but they also use their own orientation and navigation abilities to find the food source. So, in your simulation, it may be helpful to include some sort of directional component to the pheromone trail.

The distance at which ants can detect food or pheromones can vary depending on the species, but it is usually within a few centimeters. Ants will travel from their nest in search of food, and the distance can also vary depending on the species and availability of food sources in the area.

In terms of interactions between foraging ants, it is known that ants will avoid overlapping trails and will actively try to avoid each other while foraging. This could be due to competition for resources or to prevent confusion in following pheromone trails. So, it may be helpful to incorporate this behavior in your simulation.

Lastly, ants do not constantly drop pheromones while foraging. They will typically only drop pheromones after finding food, and they may also use them to mark the trail back to the nest. However, they may also use pheromones to communicate with other ants about the quality or availability of a food source.

Overall, I think incorporating these aspects of ant behavior and communication in your simulation may help to improve its accuracy and success in leading the ants to food sources. I hope this information has been helpful, and I wish you success in your simulation project.