Agent-Based Modelling

This research investigates the application of Agent-Based Modelling (ABM) to the conceptual design of structural configurations.

Agents can be thought of as basic computational units whose behavior is governed by rules for interacting with the environment and other agents. ABM makes it possible to test how the actions of an individual affect the system as a whole. Although based on simple rules, ABM can model complex adaptive systems whose behavior emerges from interactions among multiple agents. ABM has been used to investigate complex behavior in natural systems, the social sciences, economics, and networks. In architecture and civil engineering, ABM has been applied to model crowd dynamics and support the design of circulation and evacuation routes.

This work focuses on agents whose behavior is governed by simple rules of attraction and repulsion. The agents are represented by nodes in two or three dimensions. Some agents are “attractors” and remain in fixed positions, while other agents repel one another to maintain a specified “personal space” within which no other agent is allowed. The agents search for their closest attractor and gradually move toward it. Once near the attractor, the agents remain within a spatial region defined by the target distance to the attractor. Agent behavior switches between attraction and repulsion depending on the direction of movement and distance from the attractor. Simultaneously, the agents evaluate the positions of their neighbors. If the distance to an agent’s closest neighbor is smaller than that required for its “personal space,” the agent moves away from it. By tuning these simple rules, many interesting outcomes emerge, including circles, spheres, and more complex geometric configurations generated using multiple attractors. In such configurations, the system reaches a low-energy state in which it is in equilibrium.