Boids

Brian Abreu

CSC 471 Spring 06

Boids is a bird flocking simulation based on the work of Craig Renolds. The birds in this simulation follow three simple rules

  • Cohesion
  • Alignment
  • Separation
Cohesion simply means each bird attempts to direct itself to the center of the flock. Alignment means each bird tries to match the current velocity of its neighbors. Separation is simply collision avoidance. With just these 3 simple rules a fairly natural looking flocking behavior emerges.

This program features a simple sky dome with a sky texture mapped to it. This allows for the user to view the sky in any direction. The terrain in the program is randomly generated with a seamless terrain texture mapped on to it. The boids are hierarchically modeled so the wings can be animated. The wing speed of each bird depends on its current velocity and acceleration.

Screenshots

They say a picture is worth a thousand words...

Flock


Here is a basic shot of the flock. In this image you can see the randomly generated terrain as well as the sky dome. If you look closely at the terrain in the background you can see the fog effect.

Below


This is a shot of the flock from below. You get a good look at the sky dome in the background. As you move the camera around, you will notice that the sky is displayed seamlessly. This is because the sky texture is mapped to a dome that is centered about the camera.

Boid Cam


This is a screenshot of "boid cam." In this mode, the program will display a first person view as one of the boids in the flock. The program allows the user to toggle which boid is used.

Above


Here is a shot of flock from above.