Cops and Robbers Website
For three weeks, we have been working on a project called Cops and Robbers which models how money is transfered in the town of Mayberry. This was a group project, and Eve and I were partners. Our goal was to create an AgentSheets model to demonstrate certain factors. The robbers are supposed to steal from the people, and the cops are supposed to take the robbers money. Then, all the people except for the robbers are supposed to put the money in the bank. This was very hard, but on the third try I was able to finish it with lots of help from the Shodor staff and Eve. Then, we had to create an Excel model. Eve decided to do this. She had to insert many formulas, and create a graph. She was able to complete this, and came up with about 9 columns of numbers, and a beautiful graph. After about 20 hours of work, we were able to complete both models, answer the questions below, and create this website!
What are some advantages and disadvantages of each modeling style?The advantages of the AgentSheets model is that you can see each individual agent and follow how they lose, gain, and exchange money, and the results can vary with each trial because it has more variables, just like in a real life situation. However, this can be an issue if you just wanted an average number because you'd have to run the model many times. With Excel you can view a rounded number that tells you the average, giving you a stable number that doesn't change.
Which do you think is a more useful model for your customer? Why?We think that the AgentSheets model is more useful for the customer. We say this because you can easily change variables to match your everyday life (change population, city size, etc.)This is more accurate, and can be much more easy to understand than many lines of numbers.
What was the most challenging part to implement? Why?For the AgentSheets model, we had to restart several times because the agents were not properly functioning and interacting. In Excel the hardest part was getting the variables to work together because some variables have to rely on themselves on variables that circle back round to themselves, causing confusing circular references.
What part of your models are you most proud of? Why?For the AgentSheets model, we are most proud that we were able to finish it and that all of the agents trade money correctly. With the Excel model, we are most proud that the variables interact correctly and do not interfere with one another.
Here is the Applet!
Cops and Robbers
And here are the screenshots of the Excel Model!
