Definitions› System, Model, SimulationComputer SimulationComputer Simulation› why? how?Example ApplicationsExample Applications A system is a part of some potential yppreality where we are concerned with space-time effects and casual relationships among parts of the system Defining a system requires setting gy q gboundaries › separates system from rest of the universe› makes the system a closed world Examples:p› the energy flow among biological components in a pond› the physical motion of balls rebounding inside a closed space› customer service at a fast-food restaurant› Federal Express A model is something that we use in lieu gof the real system in order to understand something about that system A model of a system is an abstraction of that systemy Models give us comprehensible representations of systemspy› something to think about› something to communicate aboutg Models can have many formsy› mathematical equations› diagramsg› physical mock-upsChoice of form depends on the Choice of form depends on the purpose of the modelA model is a staticrepresentationA model is a staticrepresentationof the system A simulation uses a model to emulate the dynamic characteristics of a system A simulation is an execution of a model The quality of a simulation is (obviously) only as good as the quality of the modelyg q y System: a cannonball in flightygModel: a tennis ballModel: a tennis ballSimulation: throw the tennis ball across Simulation: throw the tennis ball across the parking lot Simulations are used instead of real systems for many reasons:› cheaperp› more configurable and controllable› safer› faster (or slower)› more accessible – easier to collect data Computer simulation is ideal when a pmodel can be expressed in terms of mathematics and logic (that’s what computers do) Computer simulations can easily store information about all attributes of the model, throughout the simulation rundesign modelanalyze andvalidatemodelmodelexecuteimplementsimulationsimulation December 26, 2004,›tsunami-vwmv›tsunamiv.wmv›tsunami-sphere wmv›tsunami-sphere.wmvSource:Source:› http://www.wldelft.nl/gen/news/tsunami/Howard Odum, Univ of FloridaHoward Odum, Univ of FloridaHoward Odum, Univ of Florida We continued with a group discussion, gp ,comparing and contrasting Conway’s Game of Life with SimCity, in terms of underlying models and execution
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