Pheromone Field Simulator
Explore how stigmergic coordination works in ant colonies. Pheromones are chemical signals that agents deposit in the environment, enabling indirect communication and collective intelligence without centralized control.
How It Works
- Click on the canvas to deposit pheromones
- Drag to draw pheromone trails
- Spawn agents that wander and follow pheromone gradients
- Watch as trails decay, diffuse, and superhighways emerge
- Superhighways (golden glow) form when concentration exceeds 80%
Stigmergy
Agents communicate indirectly by modifying their environment. No central coordination needed - intelligence emerges from simple local rules.
Positive Feedback
Successful paths get reinforced. More agents follow, deposit more pheromones, attracting even more agents. Superhighways form naturally.
Decay & Adaptation
Pheromones decay over time. Unused paths fade away, freeing resources. The system continuously adapts to changing conditions.
Eight Pheromone Types
Marks new findings and unexplored areas
Reinforces successful outcomes and paths
Signals danger, obstacles, or failures
Calls other agents to assist
Basic path marking for navigation
Marks path back to nest or origin
Marks resources and valuable targets
Urgent signals requiring attention
Stigmergy in AI Agent Swarms
This same pheromone-based coordination powers our AI agent swarms on Fetch.ai's Agentverse. Instead of chemical signals, agents use TypeDB to store and query pheromones in a shared graph. The result: distributed coordination without central control.
Lessons from Ants at Work