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From: bkoball@cup.portal.com (Bruce R Koball)
Newsgroups: comp.theory.cell-automata
Subject: Re: How is CALAB?
Message-ID: <31327@cup.portal.com>
Date: 1 Jul 90 21:57:24 GMT
References: <715.268d681f@desire.wright.edu>
Organization: The Portal System (TM)
Lines: 57

Tom Meacham writes:

>I have recently heard about some software called CALAB which apparently allows
>one significant latitude  in designing CA's.
>Has anyone out there used this, and if so could you please post or send a
>report on it, including sources for it and the cost.

I believe you're referring to a product called "Rudy Rucker's Cellular
Automata Laboratory", published by Autodesk, Inc., 2320 Marinship Way,
Saulsalito, CA 94965, 415-331-0356, ISBN# 0-922414-72-6, toll-free order
number 800-525-2763, price $70 (approx.).

CA Lab runs on IBM PC-compatible platforms and is actually two separate
programs. The first, RC, is an interactive, low resolution CA driver that will
run on virtually any PC display configuration, including monochrome displays.
Although its resolution is limited to 80 X 25 cells (80 X 100 on some systems)
it is very fast, with an update rate of > 30 frames/sec on a fast 386 machine.
RC provides a range of canned CA rules from which to select, along with a
"control panel" function to alter some system parameters during runtime. The
user may also create new rules in a limited fashion.

The second part of the package, CA, is capable of running 320 X 200 cells with
8 bits of color information per pixel. This requires a machine with a CGA, EGA
or VGA display (VGA is the most effective). Although this driver has many more
cells it still manages a respectable update rate of > 1 frame/sec. It also
has a much more flexible method for defining rules, essentially allowing any
rule to be programmed in a few lines of C, Pascal, or even Basic.

While CA Lab is certainly not as powerful as CA hardware accelerators like
Toffoli's CAM-1/CAM-2 machines, and thus not a tool for high-end CA research,
is still much more than a toy, and an excellent introduction to CAs in
general. I highly recommend it! (no, I don't work for Autodesk :-) A word
of warning: it can be highly addictive and the novelty does not wear off!

Autodesk's main claim to fame is their highly successful PC-based CAD package,
AutoCAD. Rather than resting on their laurels, however, Autodesk's visionary
leaders (I don't use the term lightly) are financing R&D projects into some
fascinating, but not immediately commercial, areas. Among them are virtual
reality systems, cellular automata, and chaos theory. They currently have VR 
systems running on 386-based PC platforms (not commercially available yet).
Due out soon (if not out already) is a product called Chaos Lab, based on much
of the material covered in James Gliek's (sp?) popular work, "Chaos". 

Rudy Rucker is an associate professor of Mathematics and Computer Science at
San Jose State University and a recent addition to the Autodesk brain trust. 
His official title there is "Mathenaut". Rucker is also well known as one of 
the progenitors of the cyberpunk genre of science fiction. His novels, 
"Software" and "Wetware", are classics in the field. He has also authored
several popular non-fiction works on math theory and has recently been 
teaching courses in CA theory at SJSU, whence came CA Lab.

Bruce Koball
Motion West
2210 Sixth Street
Berkeley, CA 94710
415-540-7503
bkoball@cup.portal.com