Re: Density Graph, How?

[Dr. Paul Box]

Actually, this leads into another question I've been pondering...   I am 
cross-posting this message to swarm-modelling, as that is where this part of 
the 
discussion really belongs.  I would suggest that any follow-ups be posted there 
as well.

How do you calculate density of your agents (assuming that you are using a 2d 
space or something of the sort)?  There is the standard method of dividing your 
space up into quadrats or whatever unit space you're using, and simply counting 
the number of agents within the area at each step.  That is probably the most 
tried and true method.  However, I have been playing around with a c library 
written by Dave Watson, at the University of Western Australia, that has an 
extremely fast (and elegant) way of determining the nearest neighbors of points 
on a surface.  I was using the code to have an agent query it's immediate 
neighbors for certain properties at each step of the simulation.  

In the process of determining nearest neigbors, the code also calculates 
thiessen polygons around the points.  Since each thiessen polygon is an area 
with exactly one point (agent) inside it, then the area of the thiessen polygon 
is a measure of that agent's personal space.  I was thinking of using one over 
the area (area^-1) as a quick measure of that agent's density packing, which 
would then become a property of that agent, which would affect it's behavior at 
the next time step.

Is anyone out there aware of precedents of this in the existing literature?  I 
haven't found any, but that may mean I'm simply looking in the wrong places.

Cheers

> 
> Hi,
> Thank you for all who replied my email.
> However, I was more interested in drawing the density graph for
> each generation of SWARM application....
> 
> -Jae
> 
> 

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