Toward Strength and Stability

Complex Adaptive Systems (CASs) can be applied to investigate complex infrastructures and infrastructure interdependencies. Agent-based modeling (ABM) is a new CAS-based approach to the construction of models. The CAS agents within the Spot Market Agent Research Tool (SMART) and Flexible Agent Simulation Toolkit (FAST) ABMs allow investigation of the electric power infrastructure, the natural gas infrastructure, and their interdependencies. The Swarm-based SMART models use sets of agents and interconnections to represent electric power and natural gas systems. A prototype virtual reality (VR) interface has also been constructed for a version of the SMART model. This tool is intended to explore the use of advanced interactive three-dimensional visualization in agent-based modeling. The Java-based FAST model is currently under construction. FAST is a complete redesign of the SMART models that includes improvements in the modeling environment, model detail, and representational fidelity. Developing ABMs is difficult but can be rewarding.