Langton's Ant & Turmites
Emergent complexity from simple local rules
Rule string (L=left, R=right, U=U-turn, S=straight)
RL
Preset rules
RL — Classic Langton's Ant
RLL — Chaotic walker
RLLL — Complex highway
RLLLLLLLL — Symmetric
LR — Spiral
LRRRRRLLR — Fills space
RRLL — Diamond
RRLLLRLLLLLLL — Glider
Speed (steps/frame)
Number of ants
Reset
Pause
Step x1
Steps
0
Langton's Ant
: On a white cell, turn right, flip to black, move forward. On a black cell, turn left, flip to white, move forward.
After ~10,000 steps, any rule produces a
highway
— a repeating translating pattern. Rule RL has this after ~10k steps.
Rule string
: character i = turn direction when on color i. Colors cycle through states.