The
SETUP button arranges the fireflies randomly within a
circle, assigns them random excitation levels, configures
the plot to monitor the flashing, and displays a color
key.
The
GO button cycles through time, executing the rules stated
above.
The
NUMBER slider controls the number of fireflies in the
simulation.
The
THRESHOLD slider sets the excitation threshold at which
point a firefly will flash and reset its excitation
to zero. Because excitation is incremented once per
time step, this slider also represents the number of
time steps between flashes of an (uninfluenced) firefly.
The
TRIGGER slider controls the amount of luminescence required
for a firefly to reset its excitation prematurely. Each
firefly's flash is counted as 100 units of light, and
the program assumes that perceived light decreases with
the inverse square of the distance from source.
The
BUFFER slider controls how many time steps are necessary
for the flashing signal to evolve and terminate in a
flash; if a firefly is triggered to reset its excitation
when the excitation is within "buffer" of the threshold,
the flash will proceed as planned despite the resetting.
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