A while back I had followed a thread on Langton's Ant. I looked up what it was and stuff and ended up programming it in on my calculator because why not. After I finished it, I left it alone, but I just now remembered that I have it on there. It sure does look cool and can do up to 10,780 steps before it exits the domain of the calculator but is there any point in it? I could only think that it can encrypt pictures and stuff, then I'd be able to decrypt pictures with it. But that's it. I can't think of any other applications to it. Are there any useful applications to Langton's Ant? On calculator or just in general.
I have never used langton's ant before, but I believe it could create a random map.
It might be complex, but it could be used to store data. Each iteration of the ant has a specific pattern of pixels, and a direction in which the ant is heading. Perhaps it could be used to create a graph screen, and then store that as a picture. By using a reverse algorithm, the picture could be decoded into a number.
But I'm guessing that would be quite complex
An important thing about Langton's Ant is that it is a random map only up to a certain point. Every possible starting configuration will end up "highwaying" off the edge of the screen in a predictable manner (at least we think it always does; no counterexample yet). Some maps end up highwaying faster than others so its somewhat difficult to set a cutoff in generating the map.
The original intent of Langton's Ant was to demonstrate the complexity of cellular automata governed by simple rules. For centuries it was believed complex rules led to chaos and simple rules led to order but, as was shown with Langton's Ant, Wolfram's Elementary Automata, or the Game of Life, simple rules can lead to wild and unpredictable behavior.
The solution to a complex problem is often a simple answer.
If I'm not mistaken, the "Highwaying" usually doesnt occur until after the 9000th iteration. so that could be a cutoff point
If you do a color version, I believe that a different color representing a different path would dramatically decrease the chance of a recursive behavior from developing
There are a few examples of using colors to change the ant's behavior. These designs create either pure chaos or perfectly orderly systems, depending on the coloring scheme.
The solution to a complex problem is often a simple answer.
Langtons ant now has a wave equation
Should help those wanting to discover long term behaviour
I'll have to look into this!
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