Sophisticated software that was recently developed at the Technion's Faculty of Computer Science allows simulation of the spread of fires, terrorism and epidemics. The software, which simulates a struggle between some "negative factor" (bacteria, fire, terrorism, etc.) and agents whose goal is to eliminate it
Sophisticated software that was recently developed at the Technion's Faculty of Computer Science allows simulation of the spread of fires, terrorism and epidemics. The software, which simulates a struggle between some "negative factor" (bacteria, fire, terrorism, etc.) and agents whose goal is to eliminate it, was developed by a team of students in the Laboratory for Distributed Systems and Data Mining, under the direction of Dr. Ran El Yaniv.
The students Yaniv Altshuler (a graduate of the Technion's excellent program), Lisa Fairman (Israel Security Award winner) and Dorley Prover developed a system that simulates a "war game" in which bacteria participate and are confronted by agents whose goal is to eliminate them. One of the central components of the system is a new technique known as "geographical genetic programming", which enables visualization that includes the genetic (evolution) and geographic (expansion, movement and interaction in space) elements.
The virtual bacteria were equipped with various abilities, such as waiting in an incubation phase (in which they are not seen by the agents), developing logic-behavior (evolutionary), and multiplication during which new variations of them are created - similar to real mutations.
As mentioned, intelligent computerized agents were placed in front of the bacteria, fighting them with all their might. In contrast to bacteria, which are evolutionary creatures, these agents do not develop, do not reproduce, but act according to their predetermined artificial intelligence abilities, and with the help of sensors capable of locating the bacteria from a relatively long distance. The bacteria, on the other hand, are "short-sighted", do not communicate with each other, and operate according to an initial logic that is relatively primitive. The smart agents were developed as part of another project that was carried out at the Technion in the past.
The said simulation is also capable of simulating a wide range of phenomena, including the spread of computer viruses, fires and even global terrorism. Analyzing these phenomena, makes it possible to find ways to combat them. Engineer Eran Isler, director of the laboratory, explained that it is a generic research platform, on which interesting follow-up studies can be done. Isler emphasized that the development of the system was made possible thanks to the advanced equipment in the laboratory, a significant part of which was donated by various parties in the industry.
