Mobile Automaton with Memory
Mobile Automaton with Memory
A mobile automaton consists of a row of cells with two possible colors for each cell (black or white), with a single "active cell". The rule specifies the updated color for the active cell, based on its current color and that of its left and right neighbors. In addition to updating the color, the rule specifies whether the active cell should move right or left at each step. (To show where the active cell is at each time step, a black active cell is shown as a red cell, and a white active cell is shown as a blue cell.)
This Demonstration lets you explore a mobile automaton with memory. Here, memory means the color of the active cell is taken not from the current step, but from a given number of time steps in the past. Memory zero is the regular mobile automaton case. With a memory of one, the color of the active cell is taken from the previous time step, and so on. The rule is summarized by the rule table below the time evolution. The memory is shown in an icon on the right-hand side of the rule table.