ABM: Frameworks
Dr Andy Evans
ABM Frameworks
What are they?
Pieces of software to help people build ABMs.
Often offer the functions outlined.
Wide range of tools:
Pre-written functions.
Entire graphical environment.
Somewhere in the middle
Why use them?
For non-programmers:
Graphical “point-and-click” model development.
Easier than having to learn a programming language.
For programmers:
No need to write ‘external’ functionality (e.g. drawing
graphs, scheduling events, creating displays).
Can concentrate on model logic.
Save time (?)
Commonly Used Platforms
Netlogo: http://ccl.northwestern.edu/netlogo/
Repast: http://repast.sourceforge.net/
MASON: http://cs.gmu.edu/~eclab/projects/mason/
Ascape: http://ascape.sourceforge.net/
ABLE: http://www.research.ibm.com/able/
Modelling4All: http://www.modelling4all.org/
SecondLife: http://secondlife.com/
Agent Analyst: http://www.spatial.redlands.edu/agentanalyst/
Recursive Porous Agent
Simulation Toolkit (RePast)
Argonne National Laboratory.
Based on Swarm.
Includes a Logo-based language, ReLogo
and graphical programming.
Imports NetLogo.
Largely Java programmed.
Includes 3D GIS using GeoTools.
Two main versions:
Simphony (Java etc.)
RePast for HPC (C++) (MPI based)
Based on Eclipse.
Functionality
Flexible scheduling including synchronised and event-based
scheduling.
Randomisation toolkit.
Monte Carlo simulation framework.
Different spaces and boundaries, including multiple spaces at
once.
Functionality
Links with R, Weka, GRASS, Pajek.
Libraries for genetic algorithms, neural networks, regression,
random number generation, and specialized mathematics:
http://repast.sourceforge.net/docs/RepastSimphonyFAQ.pdf
Exports model shapefiles.
Exports applications.
Example Predictive Model: Burglary
Simulation
GIS/ABM Crime Model
Burglar agents situated in an environment that mimics Leeds
Agents use roads, railways and public transport to travel
around the city burgling real buildings
Why not use a framework?
Overheads: sometimes there are better ways of doing the
same job if that’s all you have to do. For example, RePast’s
watch timing is quite heavy but makes sense as a general
framework.
Constraints: sometimes it is hard to squeeze a model into a
Framework’s way of doing things, let alone then move it to
a different framework.