Overview

Teaching: 5 min
Exercises: 5 min

Questions

• What are the different tools used to build ABMs.

Objectives

• Increased awareness of the tools used to build ABMs.

NetLogo

Why NetLogo?

• Simple to use
• Great to start creating models
• Community of help (Google is your best friend)
  • Help Page
  • Google Group
  • Stack Overflow
• Cross-platform
• Large Model Library

Let’s go through the wolf and sheep example

Sheep and Wolf Predation

• What do the sliders do
• Setup the model and go
• Adjust the speed of the model using the model speed (What are ticks?)
• Use the sliders to set conditions, the number of agents, their behaviour, their interactions, and their external environment.
• Thought experiment: what type of conditions do we want to set (drought conditions, fertile fields… )
• See how they interact and change, but how do we express the output.
• Run model with 3 agents (change model-version to sheep-wolves-grass)

Programming Languages

• NetLogo (based on Scala)
• Python
• Java
• C
• R

What software might help you?

Platform	Primary Domain	Supporting Organization	Operating System	GIS Capabilities	3D Capabilities	User Support	License	Programming Language
Adaptive Modeler	Building agent-based market simulation models for price forecasting of real-world stocks and other securities	Altreva; Utrecht, Netherlands	Windows	Unknown	Yes Up to 3 agent properties can be visualized in real-time using 2D graphics and color	FAQ, documentation, tutorial, examples, forum, email support	Proprietary; free evaluation version available for research and experimentation (some limitations but no expiration)	No programming skills required. An adaptive form of genetic programming is used to create trading rules. Users can select functions to be used in the genetic programming engine.
AnyLogic	Agent-based general purpose; also supports discrete event and system dynamics simulations.	The AnyLogic Company; Oakbrook Terrace, Illinois, USA	Linux, macOS, Windows	Yes: supports both tile maps from free online providers and shapefile-based maps	Yes	Demos; training; online community; ask a question; online help; tutorials; consulting services	Proprietary; Free Personal Learning Edition available	Java
Cougaar	Multi-agent systems; highly distributed, scalable, reliable, survivable applications; Domain independent; large scale distributed, complex, data intensive (can be configured for small-scaled embedded applications)	Cougaar Software Inc.; Vienna, Virginia, USA].	Linux, macOS, Windows	Yes Integrated with OpenMap	No	FAQ; tutorials; slide shows; documentation; selected references; email support; public forums; mailing lists	Cougaar Open Source License (COSL) is a modified version of the OSI approved BSD License	Java
Framsticks	2D/3D simulations of (evolving) multi-agent systems and artificial life	Poznan University of Technology, Poznan, Poland	Cross-platform	Yes	Yes	Email developer; tutorials; manual; FAQ; forums; API; documentation; selected publications; examples	Depends on module: GPL/LGPL/Propertiary	FramScript (similar to JavaScript)
GAMA Platform	Modeling and simulation development environment for building spatially explicit agent-based simulations.	IRD/SU international research unit UMMISCO, France	Windows; Linux; *nix; Mac OS X	Yes	Yes	tutorials; manual; FAQ; forums; documentation; selected publications; examples	GPL v3.0	GAML (GAma Modeling Language) for simulations, Java for extensions
JADE	Distributed applications composed of autonomous entities	Telecom Italia; Torino & Parma, Italy	Cross-platform	Unknown	Unknown	FAQ; mailing list; defect list; tutorials; API; documentation	LGPL version 2	Java
MASON	General purpose; social complexity, physical modeling, abstract modeling, AI/machine learning	George Mason University, Fairfax, Virginia, USA	Cross-platform	Yes	Yes	Mailing list; documentation; Tutorials; third party extensions; reference papers; API	Academic Free License (open source)	Java
NetLogo	Social and natural sciences; Help beginning users get started authoring models	Northwestern University, Evanston, Illinois, USA	Cross-platform	Yes	Yes	Documentation; FAQ; selected references; tutorials; third party extensions; defect list; mailing lists	GPL	NetLogo
Repast	Social sciences	Argonne National Laboratory, University of Chicago; Lemont, Illinois, USA	Cross-platform	Yes	Yes	Documentation; mailing list; defect list; reference papers; external tools; tutorials; FAQ; examples	BSD	Java (RepastS, RepastJ); Python (RepastPy); Visual Basic, .Net, C++, J#, C# (Repast.net)
SARL	Distributed applications composed of autonomous entities	Stéphane Galland, Burgundy Franche-Comté University, France; Nicolas Gaud, Burgundy Franche-Comté University, France, Sebastian Rodriguez, Advanced Informatics Technology Research Group, Tucuman, Argentina	Cross-platform	Yes By using Java extension libraries, e.g. AFC.	Yes By using Java extension libraries, e.g. Java 3D.	FAQ; mailing list; bug tracker; tutorials; API; documentation	Apache version 2	SARL, Java
Soar	General purpose AI; human performance modeling; learning (including explanation-based learning)	John E. Laird, Clare Bates Congdon, Mazin Assanie, Nate Derbinsky and Joseph Xu; Division of Computer Science and Engineering, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA	Cross-platform	Unknown	Unknown	Documentation; FAQ; selected publications; defect list; third party extensions; mailing list; contact authors; tutorial; examples; wiki	BSD	Soar 1 to 5 in Lisp; Soar 6 in C; Java, C++, TCL
StarLogo	Social and natural sciences; Educators; for students to model the behavior of decentralized systems; user friendly for K–12 students	Mitchel Resnick, Eric Klopfer, and others at MIT Media Lab and The MIT Scheller Teacher Education Program, Massachusetts Institute of Technology; Cambridge, MA, USA	Cross-platform	Unknown	Unknown	Mailing list; tutorials; FAQ; bug list; documentation; developer contacts	Free (closed source) – Clearthought Software License, Version 1.0	StarLogo (an extension of Logo)
Swarm	General purpose agent based	Swarm Development Group	Cross-platform	Unknown	Unknown	Wiki; tutorials; examples; documentation; FAQ; selected publications; mailing lists	GPL	Java; Objective-C

This table was shamelessly adapated from Wikipedia - Comparison of Agent Based Modeling Software

References

1. Tisue, S., & Wilensky, U. (2004, May). Netlogo: A simple environment for modeling complexity. In International conference on complex systems (Vol. 21, pp. 16-21).
2. Thiele, J. C. (2014). R marries NetLogo: introduction to the RNetLogo package. Journal of Statistical Software, 58, 1-41.
3. Wilensky, U. (1999). NetLogo (and NetLogo user manual). Center for connected learning and computer-based modeling, Northwestern University. http://ccl.northwestern.edu/netlogo/docs.

Key Points

• NetLogo is simple to use, well supported, and a great starting point for agent-based modelling.

• NetLogo simulations need to be ‘setup’, then they ‘go’

• Ticks can be an arbitrary unit of time.

• Plots, graphs, and numbers can be used to output the results of your model.

• Can run multiple simulations using the NetLogo BehaviourSpace feature.