Langton's Ant In Python

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        The following code simulates <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Langton's_ant">Langton's Ant</a> using Python and PyGame.

A full explanation is given <a href="http://compprog.wordpress.com/2008/02/15/langtons-ant/">here</a>.

#************************************************
# Rules of the game
#	1. If the ant is on a black square, it turns
#		right 90 and moves forward one unit
#	2. If the ant is on a white square, it turns
# 		left 90 and moves forward one unit
#	3. When the ant leaves a square, it inverts
#		colour
#
# SEE: http://mathworld.wolfram.com/LangtonsAnt.html
#************************************************

import sys, pygame
from pygame.locals import *
import time

dirs = (
		(-1, 0),
		(0, 1),
		(1, 0),
		(0, -1)
		)

cellSize = 12 # size in pixels of the board (4 pixels are used to draw the grid)
numCells = 64 # length of the side of the board
background = 0, 0, 0 # background colour; black here
foreground = 23, 23, 23 # foreground colour; the grid's colour; dark gray here
textcol = 177, 177, 177 # the colour of the step display in the upper left of the screen
antwalk = 44, 88, 44 # the ant's trail; greenish here
antant = 222, 44, 44 # the ant's colour; red here
fps = 1.0 / 40 # time between steps; 1.0 / 40 means 40 steps per second

def main():
	pygame.init()

	size = width, height = numCells * cellSize, numCells * cellSize

	pygame.display.set_caption("Langton's Ant")

	screen = pygame.display.set_mode(size) # Screen is now an object representing the window in which we paint
	screen.fill(background)
	pygame.display.flip() # IMPORTANT: No changes are displayed until this function gets called

	for i in xrange(1, numCells):
		pygame.draw.line(screen, foreground, (i * cellSize, 1), (i * cellSize, numCells * cellSize), 2)
		pygame.draw.line(screen, foreground, (1, i * cellSize), (numCells * cellSize, i * cellSize), 2)
	pygame.display.flip() # IMPORTANT: No changes are displayed until this function gets called

	font = pygame.font.Font(None, 36)

	antx, anty = numCells / 2, numCells / 2
	antdir = 0
	board = [[False] * numCells for e in xrange(numCells)]

	step = 1
	pause = False
	while True:
		for event in pygame.event.get():
				if event.type == QUIT:
					return
				elif event.type == KEYUP:
					if event.key == 32: # If space pressed, pause or unpause
						pause = not pause
					elif event.key == 115:
						pygame.image.save(screen, "Step%d.tga" % (step))

		if pause:
			time.sleep(fps)
			continue

		text = font.render("%d " % (step), True, textcol, background)
		screen.blit(text, (10, 10))
		
		if board[antx][anty]:
			board[antx][anty] = False # See rule 3
			screen.fill(background, pygame.Rect(antx * cellSize + 1, anty * cellSize + 1, cellSize - 2, cellSize - 2))
			antdir = (antdir + 1) % 4 # See rule 1
		else:
			board[antx][anty] = True # See rule 3
			screen.fill(antwalk, pygame.Rect(antx * cellSize + 1, anty * cellSize + 1, cellSize - 2, cellSize - 2))
			antdir = (antdir + 3) % 4 # See rule 2

		antx = (antx + dirs[antdir][0]) % numCells
		anty = (anty + dirs[antdir][1]) % numCells

		# The current square (i.e. the ant) is painted a different colour
		screen.fill(antant, pygame.Rect(antx * cellSize + 1, anty * cellSize + 1, cellSize -2, cellSize -2))

		pygame.display.flip() # IMPORTANT: No changes are displayed until this function gets called

		step += 1
		time.sleep(fps)

if __name__ == "__main__":
	main()

Tags:
• ant
• graphic
• langton
• pygame
• Python
• simulation
• turing
• turmite