Configuration

On this article we will show you some basic settings you can change to configure your model. For more comprehensive look into all option look here.

Please have a look at the config.json file inside your model folder. It controls all features of the model.

Global Options for the Model

Inside the globals key you have the possibillity to change the basic parameters of your simulation, like the duration.

{
    "globals": {
        "startTime":  "2022-03-01T05:00",
        "endTime":    "2022-03-01T05:10",
        "deltaTUnit": "seconds",
        "deltaT": 1
    }
}

The combination of startTime and endTime will build the scope of the runtime of your model. Each tick will correspond to your chosen unit of time (deltaTUnit and deltaT). In the above example our simulation runs 10 minutes, with a resolution of seconds. So the simulation will have $10 \cdot 60 = 600$ ticks.

Layer

The layers form the area on that our agents move, in this case we need a playing field on that our agents can move. Below the layers key we can configure the layer of our simulation.

{
    "layers": [{
        "name": "GridLayer",
        "file": "Resources/grid_closed.csv"
    }]
}

Each layer needs a corresponding entry in this list. In this case wie assign the GridLayer class the input file Resources/grid_closed.csv.

Resources/grid_closed.csv

1;1;1;1;1;1;1;1;1;1
1;0;1;0;0;0;0;1;1;1
1;0;0;0;0;0;1;0;1;1
1;0;0;1;0;1;1;0;0;1
1;1;0;1;0;0;1;0;0;1
1;0;0;1;0;0;1;0;0;1
1;1;1;1;1;0;1;0;1;1
1;0;0;0;0;0;1;0;1;1
1;0;1;0;1;1;1;1;0;1
1;1;1;1;1;1;1;1;1;1

This CSV file is actually just a two-dimensional grid, where in a 1 shows a wall and 0 is floor. Agents will only be able to move on floors cells, and can't walk over walls.

Agent

The individual agent types of your model can be configured below the agents key. Each agent you want to use needs an entry in this list!

{
    "agents": [{
      "name":  "SimpleAgent",
      "count": 2,
      "file":  "Resources/simple_agent.csv"
    }]
}

name creates a mapping between the actual C#-Class (SimpleAgent) that represents your agent's logic, and it's configuration in the config.json file. With count you can control, how many agents you want to have of this type. With file you can link an input CSV-file that has further attributes for the agent.

Resources/simple_agent.csv

StartX;StartY
4;4
1;1

In this case we give the two SimpleAgent some start positions on a grid cell. We initiate 2 agents, the first one will get the coordinates $(4, 4)$ and the second one will get $(1, 1)$.

Complete config.json used in this example

{
  "globals": {
    "startTime": "2022-03-01T05:00",
    "endTime": "2022-03-01T05:10",
    "deltaTUnit": "seconds",
    "deltaT": 1,
    "output": "csv",
    "pythonVisualization": true
  },
  "layers": [
    {
      "name": "GridLayer",
      "file": "Resources/grid_closed.csv",
      "pythonVisualization": true
    }
  ],
  "agents": [
    {
      "name": "SimpleAgent",
      "count": 1,
      "file": "Resources/simple_agent.csv"
    },
    {
      "name": "ComplexAgent",
      "count": 1,
      "file": "Resources/complex_agent.csv"
    },
    {
      "name": "HelperAgent",
      "count": 1
    }
  ]
}