[ExI] this might sting your interest

spike spike66 at att.net
Wed Oct 27 16:28:15 UTC 2010


 

> ...On Behalf Of Ben Zaiboc
> Subject: Re: [ExI] this might sting your interest
> 
> 
> >
>
<http://www.physorg.com/news/2010-10-complex-mathematical-problem-bees.html>
...
> 
> Did they use hundreds of computer controlled artificial 
> flowers?  And did the bees visit every one?
> And if the problem is so hard to solve using a computer, how 
> did the researchers actually know that the bees found an 
> optimal solution?
> 
> Ben Zaiboc

Ben I had some of the same questions.  The article doesn't say all that
much, but I had some ideas on how to reproduce the results.  I would need to
put an RFID on several bees, then have readers on each flower (which is
expensive and beyond my personal budget).  Then I would be able to determine
which path the bee took.  I might be able to do the same thing with
microphones on each flower, if I can figure out a way to keep other bees
away, such as in a warehouse or gymnasium for instance.  Microphones are
cheap.

If you have a field with flowers randomly scattered about, try to determine
by eye which is the shortest path which hits every flower.  Then compare the
path length the bee chose.  Then compare the path length the computer chose.

You can write a sim in microsloth excel that finds a pretty good path, even
if it isn't the very best one.  I wrote one a long time ago.  If you want I
can see if I can find that and send you the code.

spike








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