Grasshopper Simulator is a Python simulation made with Pygame that emulates how grasshoppers with and without the ability to react to aggregation pheromones would live in a simulated environment.
Image of the simulation at runtime:
First, install the dependencies:
pip3 install pygameOpen the terminal in the project's main folder and run main.pythrough the Python interpreter:
python3 main.pyOutputs, which can be enabled or disabled through settings.py, are saved in the images folder and as data.csv. Those are all located in the root directory of the project.
- The simulation area is divided into a grid.
- Each cell corresponds to three attributes: attributes: resources (green), humidity (blue), and temperature (red). The brighter the color, the more the conditions are favorable for the grasshoppers.
- The grasshoppers will consume a fixed amount of resources from the cell they are in each turn, while the humidity and the temperature will randomly get more or less favorable.
- If a grasshopper can receive and produce the aggregating pheromone and the condition of the cell is adequate, it will do so and all the nearby grasshoppers that are receptive will move toward the cell. Otherwise, they will randomly move in the adjacent cells until they find one with good enough conditions.
- Every time a grasshopper moves it will have a certain probability of dying that is determined by the resources present in the cell and by the "predators" that will act more likely against smaller groups of grasshoppers.
The grid is shown four times, one for each resource, humidity, and temperature and one for the number of grasshoppers. The grasshopper's cells will acquire a whiter color when aggregation pheromones are active and in each cell are displayed on the left the aggregating grasshoppers and on the right the non-aggregating ones.
You can alter the parameters of the simulation and its GUI in settings.py.
Please refer to settings.py for a description of what each parameter does.