Playing God: The Engineering of Functional Designs in the Game

of LifeLiban Mohamed

Computer Systems Research Lab 2007-2008

Overview

• Conway’s Game of Life– Von Neumann Neighborhood– Rules: 23/3– Complexity emerges from simple rules– Using predictable reactions, logical

computations can be performed

Purpose

• Creation of a cellular automata interface which is flexible, easy to use, and designed in consideration of the construction of large patterns

• Creation of search function for oscillators and spaceship collisions

• Implementation of a logic based computational construct

Interface Flexibility

• Implemented Functions:– Selection– Step– Run– Copy / Paste– Clear– Save– Open– Load

The Options Box

• Available Options:– Grid Dimensions– Cell Size– Toroidal Grid– Run Speed

(up to 200 Hz)

The Search Input

• Constraints on the search:– Unspecified cells– Generations– Size– Cell mapping

The Next Step

• Implementation of search functions constraints; I have the input set up but I still need to implement the searching

• Construction of patterns that can be used to perform arithmetic