Last edited 6may01 by Matthew Rakher
Find this document at http://www.ncsa.uiuc.edu/Classes/MATH198/rakher/licadir/smlica/licawork/

LicaToo: C. Hartman's Linear Cellular Automata (LICA) in OpenGL

Abstract

This project takes Chris Hartman's Linear Cellular Automata (LICA) program which was originally written in IrisGL, and translates it into OpenGL. The study of Cellular Automata is a fairly new science which interests people in many different scientific disciplines from physics to computer science. As this is a class for undergraduates, many of the students have never really learned about automata or seen one on a computer screen, let alone experimented with them. LICA is a great program for allowing students to explore cellular automata on their own. The program allows the user to make their own "rules" for the system and see immediately the form of their rule when applied to the system. With the push of a key, users can change the initial condition of the system or even randomly change a single cell. As one can easily see, this program is very beneficial for those wanting to learn more about automata as a beginner. Chris originally wrote the program in IrisGL which unfortunately restricts its ability for a student to use it at home. The end result of my project will allow students to do further exploration of automata by allowing them to complile LICA from their home computer.

This is what the program looks like on your computer screen as a "Wolfram" with rule 72 .