Defining Ant Metadata

Once ants are created and identified, the next steps is to fill some metadata on the ants that will be used for interaction detection, visualisation or for any pre-defined usage.

Ant virtual shapes

In fort-myrmidon each ant has a virtual shape defined as an union of capsules [2], as shown in figure Fig. 1. There are no predefined type in a new experiment, and they must be created [3] before adding a capsule to an ant [4].

An ant virtual shape is defined by a collection of typed capsules — Fig. 1 Ant virtual shape in **fort-myrmidon**.

Ant virtual shape are defined as a collection of typed capsules. Here each type is assigned an unique color. A capsule is defined as region inside and between two circles.

Capsule are defined in the ant reference frame.

#python
import py_fort_myrmidon as fm

e = fm.Experiment("defining_ant_metadata.myrmidon")

a = e.CreateAnt()

headID = e.CreateAntShapeType("head")
antennaID = e.CreateAntShapeType("antennas")
bodyID = e.CreateAntShapeType("body")


a.AddCapsule(headID,fm.Capsule(c1 = [1,2], c2 = [3,4], r1 = 0.5, r2 = 1.0 ))
a.AddCapsule(antennaID,fm.Capsule(c1 = [1,2], c2 = [3,4], r1 = 0.5, r2 = 1.0 ))
a.AddCapsule(antennaID,fm.Capsule(c1 = [1,2], c2 = [3,4], r1 = 0.5, r2 = 1.0 ))
a.AddCapsule(bodyID,fm.Capsule(c1 = [1,2], c2 = [3,4], r1 = 0.5, r2 = 1.0 ))
a.AddCapsule(bodyID,fm.Capsule(c1 = [1,2], c2 = [3,4], r1 = 0.5, r2 = 1.0 ))

for typeID,c in a.Capsules:
    print(typeID,c)

#R
library(FortMyrmidon)

e <- fmExperimentCreate("defining_ant_metadata.myrmidon")

a <- e$createAnt()

headID = e$createAntShapeType("head")
antennaID = e$createAntShapeType("antennas")
bodyID = e$createAntShapeType("body")


a$addCapsule(headID,fmCapsuleCreate(c1 = c(1,2), c2 = c(3,4), r1 = 0.5, r2 = 1.0 ))
a$addCapsule(antennaID,fmCapsuleCreate(c1 = c(1,2), c2 = c(3,4), r1 = 0.5, r2 = 1.0 ))
a$addCapsule(antennaID,fmCapsuleCreate(c1 = c(1,2), c2 = c(3,4), r1 = 0.5, r2 = 1.0 ))
a$addCapsule(bodyID,fmCapsuleCreate(c1 = c(1,2), c2 = c(3,4), r1 = 0.5, r2 = 1.0 ))
a$addCapsule(bodyID,fmCapsuleCreate(c1 = c(1,2), c2 = c(3,4), r1 = 0.5, r2 = 1.0 ))

a$capsules # a list with all capsules data

for ( typedCapsule in a$capsules ) {
    print(paste(typedCapsule$type,capture.output(typedCapsule$capsule)))
}

#include <fort/myrmidon/Experiment.hpp>

using namespace fort::myrmidon;

auto e = Experiment::Create("defining_ant_metadata.myrmidon");
auto a = e->CreateAnt();

headID = e->CreateAntShapeType("head");
antennaID = e->CreateAntShapeType("antennas");
bodyID = e->CreateAntShapeType("body");


a->AddCapsule(headID,
              std::make_shared<Capsule>(Eigen::Vector2d(1,2),
                                        Eigen::Vector2d(3,4),
                                        0.5,
                                        1.0));
a->AddCapsule(antennaID,
              std::make_shared<Capsule>(Eigen::Vector2d(1,2),
                                        Eigen::Vector2d(3,4),
                                        0.5,
                                        1.0));
a->AddCapsule(antennaID,
              std::make_shared<Capsule>(Eigen::Vector2d(1,2),
                                        Eigen::Vector2d(3,4),
                                        0.5,
                                        1.0));
a->AddCapsule(bodyID,
              std::make_shared<Capsule>(Eigen::Vector2d(1,2),
                                        Eigen::Vector2d(3,4),
                                        0.5,
                                        1.0));
a->AddCapsule(bodyID,
              std::make_shared<Capsule>(Eigen::Vector2d(1,2),
                                        Eigen::Vector2d(3,4),
                                        0.5,
                                        1.0));

for ( const auto & [typeID,capsule] : a->Capsules() ) {
    std::cerr << typeID << " " << *capsule << std::endl;
}

User-defined timed metadata system

fort-studio provides the ability to define timed key/value pair for each ant. Like ant shape type, these keys and their default value must be defined [5] in the experiment before, optionally, be modified [6] or accessed [7] for any ant. Type of key is strongly typed and set in the experiment: i.e. if the key "group" is defined to be a str, assigning an int will result an error. Possible types are restricted to boolean, integer, float, strings or Time [1].

#python
e.SetMetaDataKey("group","worker")
e.SetMetaDataKey("alive",True)

t = fm.Time.Now()

a.GetValue("group",t) # is a worker
a.SetValue("alive",False,t)
a.GetValue("alive",t) # False
a.GetValue("alive",t.Add(-1 * fm.Duration.Second)) # True, it was alive before t

#R
e$setMetaDataKey("group","worker")
e$setMetaDataKey("alive",TRUE)

t <- fmTimeNow()

a$getValue("group",t) # is a "worker"
a$setValue("alive",FALSE,t)
a$getValue("alive",t) # FALSE
a.GetValue("alive",t$add(fmSecond(-1))) # TRUE, it was alive before t

// C++
e->SetMetaDataKey("group","worker");
e->SetMetaDataKey("alive",true);

t = fort::Time::Now();

a->GetValue("group",t); // is a "worker"
a->SetValue("alive",false,t);
a->GetValue("alive",t); // false
a->GetValue("alive",t.Add(-1 * fort::Duration::Second)); // true, it was alive before t

Ant visualization data

It is possible to set or access [8] properties on how ants should be displayed in fort-studio.

#python
a.DisplayColor = fm.DefaultPaletteColor(1)
a.DisplayStatus = fm.Ant.DisplayState.SOLO

#R
a$displayColor = fmDefaultPaletteColor(2)
a$displayStatus = fmAntDisplayState$SOLO

//C++
a->SetDisplayColor(fort::myrmidon::DefaultPaletteColor(1));
a->SetDisplayStatus(fort::myrmidon::Ant::DisplayState::SOLO);