This application is a “proof of concept” evolution simulator. Each animal (process) has the following properties

  • Memory: This is both readable and writable memory addresses starting from address 0 for each animal.
  • Threads: Each animal can have multiple threads that communicate via it’s memory.
  • CpuTime: Each animal is granted cputime by it’s parent when it is born, and after that is given cputime by the environment (like sunshine) each cycle.
  • Position: Each animal has a current position in the grid
  • Direction: Each animal is pointing in a certain direction (this is not currently shown in the display.

Each thread in each animal has the following properties:

  • Stack: this is essentially current memory. Operations can put information on the stack, manipulate the top item on the stack, or pop information off the stack.
  • Execution Pointer: Each thread is executing the same program, but potentially at a different address (different function) in memory.
  • Read Pointer and Write Pointer: These are used for copying operations.
  • Memory Pointer: This is used for writing operands only.
  • Speed: An animal can choose to operate faster, multiple operations per second. This is expensive for the animal.
  • SleepCycles: The thread can sleep for a set number of cycles. It will be woken when this counter reaches 0.

There have so far been two Ancestors created:

  1. A simple non-mobile vegetable. This has a single thread that is devoted to reproduction.
    Once all 8 slots around the animal are full, it sleeps for a period and then checks again.
  2. A simple mobile vegetable. This has two threads: one is devoted to reproduction, the other moves in a straight line forever.
    When it reproduces, it turns right.

Animals reproduce by allocating memory at the end of their memory, then copying their code into the new memory, and then dividing the new memory.
This creates a new process.
The copying process has a non-0 random chance of failing to accurately copy the data requested.
This results in the child not always being the same as the parent, and the chance for evolution is created.
Successful species (when a species has had enough animals with the same code, occurs at powers of 10) are sent to the server.
When the application starts it requests the 10 best animals from the server.
Things you can do:

  • Click on an individual to see information about it on the “Process Details” tab
  • View code of species on server to see what has evolved from the “Progenitors”

Future features:

  • Ability to examine the code of any individual.
  • Allow the user to insert new processes (with new code) into the environment.