Functional Anatomy of an Artificial Fish

 

As we discussed in the preceding chapter, there are diverse aspects to the realistic modeling of an artificial animal, from superficial appearance to internal functionality. It is helpful to think of the artificial fish model as consisting of three submodels:

1. A graphical display model that uses geometry and texture mapping to capture the form and appearance of any specific real fish.
2. A biomechanical model that captures the physical and anatomical structure of the fish's body, including its muscle actuators, and simulates its deformation and physical dynamics.
3. A brain model that is responsible for motor control, perception control and behavior control of the fish.

Each of the three submodels will be developed in detail in the coming chapters. Fig.  presents a functional overview of the artificial fish. As the figure illustrates, the body of the fish harbors its brain. The brain itself consists of three control centers: the motor center, the perception center, and the behavior center. These centers are part of the motor, perception, and behavior control systems of the artificial fish. The function of each of these systems will be previewed next.

  
Figure: System overview of the artificial fish.

Xiaoyuan Tu

January 1996