Swarm (simulation)
Developer(s) | Swarm Development Group |
---|---|
Initial release | November 1997 |
Stable release | 2.4.1
/ April 2009 |
Written in | Scientific software |
License | GNU General Public License |
Website | www |
As of | October 2013 |
Swarm is the name of an open-source agent-based modeling simulation package, useful for simulating the interaction of agents (social or biological) and their emergent collective behaviour. Swarm was initially developed at the Santa Fe Institute in the mid-1990s, and since 1999 has been maintained by the non-profit Swarm Development Group. Also known as the Swarm Simulation System,[1] it is available for free [2] and use, covered by the GNU General Public License.[3]
Early development work on Swarm was completed by
Applications
Scientific applications
Agent-based modeling seeks to replicate these complexities and adaptations in computational environments where these interactive
Swarm and other agent-based modeling platforms afford scientists the opportunity to conduct and visualize experiments in these synthetic macro and microenvironments for testing scientific theories, natural data sets, and other analyses while free of pressing constraints like time, volume, hazards, or many other parameters.
Commercial applications
Agent-based models have been used since the mid-1990s to solve a variety of business and technology problems. Examples of applications include:
- supply chain optimization and logistics;
- modeling of consumer behavior, including word of mouth and social networkeffects;
- distributed computing;
- workforce management;
- traffic management; and
- portfolio management.
In these and other applications, the system of interest is simulated by capturing the behavior of individual agents and their interconnections. Agent-based modeling tools can be used to test how changes in individual behaviors will affect the overall, emergent system behavior.