 Cellular automata is a method of modeling complexity through the simple iteration of algorithmic building blocks. At the most fundamental level a cell is constructed which contains a rule (algorithm) that specifies how this cell is to grow over a period of time. The rule first asks its neighbors for their state and then based on the cell's condition and the neighbor's condition the cell will change its state. The rules which drive cellular automata do not have to be limited to simply changing the state of the current cell, but can be evolved to embrace cell divisions as well as decay.
A set of cells occupies space in the manner by which the cells stack together. Typically, cellular automata's cells live inside of a spatial-lattice that resembles the atomic packing models found in crystallography. If a cell occupies space then it must have a shape. Normally a set of similar cells stack themselves in a spatial-lattice in a recurring packing structure. The most basic packing structure is cubic and when a cube is built within this packing structure it has twenty-seven potential neighbors (faces and diagonal corners). There are many packing structures and many ways in which shapes may arrange themselves inside of this structure.
Cellular automata attaches rules to each of the primitive shapes in the lattice. A growth sequence is triggered in the system by interactively executing the rules in the lattice. If a system of cells holds a uniform state it is very hard to start a cycle of growth. What is needed is an initial or continuous stimulation of a set of cells in the lattice. Once this stimulation takes place, the cells of the lattice will continue to spread the wave across the lattice. The number of times that a rule is executed in one continuous block of time is referred to as its iteration count. In Visual-Synth the sub-system that stimulates the rules in the lattice is referred to as the system's event 'generator'.
There are cellular growth
models that do not depend on the structure of a spatial-lattice.
These free-form growth models start with a set of cells that contain
instructions on how to split, propagate, and force feedback into
the growth cycle. |
