Mole Tunnel Navigation Lab (2D): Scent-Gradient Foraging

Colony & Terrain

Moles 12

Soil density 45%

Sensory sensitivity 65%

Live Readout

Elapsed time

0.0 s

Nodes found

Avg. energy

100%

Distance covered

0.0 m

How it works

Each mole senses an underground scent field C(x,y), the sum of Gaussian plumes leaking from every uncollected food node. Its heading blends two terms — gradient ascent up the plume and a slowly-drifting exploration direction — weighted by the sensitivity slider s (0–1):

C(x,y) = Σ exp(−d_i² / 2σ²)          (plume from node i, distance d_i)
∇C ≈ [C(x+ε,y)−C(x−ε,y), C(x,y+ε)−C(x,y−ε)] / 2ε
dir = normalize( s·∇C/|∇C| + (1−s)·explore )
v   = v_max / (1 + k·ρ)               (soil density ρ drags top speed)
dE/dt = −(c0 + c1·ρ·v)                (energy burn scales with drag work)

This is a biased random walk / klinokinesis model — the same family used to describe real chemotaxis in soil-dwelling animals: low sensitivity gives an aimless random walk that stumbles onto food by chance, high sensitivity turns the walk into near-direct gradient ascent, and dense soil taxes every metre travelled, so a mole can starve (energy hits 0, shown dimmed) before it reaches the next node. Found nodes respawn elsewhere so foraging never stalls.

Trail — each mole's last few seconds of underground track.
Glow rings — food nodes; ring brightness fades as their scent plume is consumed by nearby traffic.
Dimmed mole — energy at 0%; it idles and slowly regenerates energy instead of moving.

Mole (foraging) Mole (exhausted) Food node