Agent-based Model Exploration

International audienceThe previous chapters have allowed us to introduce the basics of agent-based model creation with NetLogo. This has resulted in a model such as the one used in our running example. Once the model has been built, the aim is to manipulate it in such a way that new knowledge about the modeled phenomenon can be created. For example, we could look to study the rate of infection resulting from certain parameter values. The use and study of a model is nonetheless as complex as its creation. As such, using our model, we could launch the simulation with standard initial parameters (say 300 humans, 500 mosquitoes, a contamination distance of 5 and a work–home distance of 500), and we would obtain the graph indicating no infection beyond the source mosquito, which would lead us to conclude that these parameters lead to no infections. However, upon relaunching the simulation with the exact same values, we might obtain the graph with the infection present in almost 100% of individuals after 1,000 iterations