Evolving Transport Networks With Cellular Automata Models Inspired by Slime Mould

摘要

Man-made transport networks and their design are closely related to the shortest path problem and considered amongst the most debated problems of computational intelligence. Apart from using conventional or bio-inspired computer algorithms, many researchers tried to solve this kind of problem using biological computing substrates, gas-discharge solvers, prototypes of a mobile droplet, and hot ice computers. In this aspect, another example of biological computer is the plasmodium of acellular slime mould , which is a large single cell visible by an unaided eye and has been proven as a reliable living substrate for implementing biological computing devices for computational geometry, graph-theoretical problems, and optimization and imitation of transport networks. Although is easy to experiment with, computing devices built with the living slime mould are extremely slow; it takes slime mould days to execute a computation. Consequently, mapping key computing mechanisms of the slime mould onto silicon would allow us to produce efficient bio-inspired computing devices to tackle with hard to solve computational intelligence problems like the aforementioned. Toward this direction, a cellular automaton (CA)-based, Physarum-inspired, network designing model is proposed. This novel CA-based model is inspired by the propagating strategy, the formation of tubular networks, and the computing abilities of the plasmodium of . The results delivered by the CA model demonstrate a good match with several previously published results of experimental laboratory studies on imitation of man-made transport networks with . Consequently, the proposed CA model can be used as a virtual, easy-to-access, and biomimicking laboratory emulator that will economize large time periods needed for biological experiments while producing networks almost - dentical to the tubular networks of the real-slime mould.