The Effects of Time Advance Mechanism on Simple Agent Behaviors in Combat Simulations

Abstract

We investigate the effects of time advance mechanisms on the behavior of agents in combat simulations using some simple scenarios relevant to combat and agent-based models. We implement these simulation designs in two modeling packages that illustrate the differences between discrete-time simulation (DTS) and discrete-event simulation (DES) methodologies. Many combat models use DTS as their simulation time advance mechanism. We demonstrate that the presence and size of the time step as a modeling component can have a substantial impact on the basic characteristics of agent and simulation performance. We show that the use of a DTS method can degrade the modeling accuracy of changes in agent sensor range and detection outcomes, and also can compromise the ability of agents to travel to specific target destinations in a spatial simulation environment. We conclude that DES methodology successfully addresses these problems and is preferred as a time advance mechanism in these situations.

Open PDF

Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Dec 01, 2011
Accession Number
ADA558483

Entities

People

  • Ahmed A. Al Rowaei
  • Arnold H. Buss
  • Stephen Lieberman

Organizations

  • Naval Postgraduate School

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Materials and Manufacturing Processes
  • Sensors
  • Weapons Technologies

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Accuracy
  • Agent-Based Simulations
  • Combat Simulations
  • Communities
  • Detection
  • Detectors
  • Electronic Mail
  • Electronics
  • Environment
  • Information Operations
  • Military Operations
  • Military Training
  • Miss Distance
  • Models
  • Multiagent Systems
  • New Jersey
  • Simulations

Readers

  • Aerospace logistics and air mobility.
  • Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD)
  • Systems Analysis and Design