An Agent-Based Visual Simulation Technique Using Commercial Spreadsheet Software

Abstract

The traditional type of simulation offers only a list of figures calculated by a simulation operation. Visual simulation demonstrates to the expert (user) of the simulation subject how the simulated action works. From the visually displayed simulation process, the expert is able to observe the problem deeply and think out the solution by observing the simulation procedure. However, visual simulation software currently on the market is sophisticated, high-cost and requires users to undergo training. This paper presents easy-to-use visual simulation techniques using the Excel spreadsheet and its' VBA programming facility. Visual simulation using an Excel sheet is useful for the office worker for his/her own job. In addition an agent-technique which realizes the autonomous behavior of an object within the spreadsheet is introduced in this paper. The spreadsheet is originally designed for business tables and graphs. This study suggests the spreadsheet for object moving visual simulation. Various simulation model examples which are prepared by Excel simulation techniques using the agent function are reported in this paper. These examples are used for evaluating the proposed technique.