Introduction to Agent-based Modelling and Simulation (ABMS)

Introduction to Agent-Based Modelling

26. – 29.5.2026, 9:00 am – 4:30 pm

We would like to invite you for a workshop titled Introduction to Agent-based Modelling and Simulation (ABMS) at the University of Stuttgart, organized by the Institute for Computational Design and Construction (ICD). 

ABMS is a computational approach for modelling systems of many interacting entities—such as animals, people, building elements, or robots. Such systems often exhibit complex, non-linear behaviour ranging from emergent patterns and self-organisation to collective intelligence. ABMS is equally useful for designing the behaviours of individual entities in distributed technical systems, such as robot swarms or construction processes, to achieve a desired system outcome.

The 4-day workshop will take place May 26-29 in building K1 at Campus Stadtmitte

During the workshop, we will introduce the fundamental concepts and constructs of agent-based systems and the related object-oriented, iterative computation method. Participants will implement established models and analyze simulation results through data collection and visualization. In a final project, participants may transfer these methods to a topic relevant to their own research interests and develop an agent-based model independently.

As a software framework, we will use ABxM.Core, an addon to Rhino-Grashopper, which has been developed over the last 10 years at ICD across several research projects— including the IntCDC building project presented by Prof. Achim Menges at the IntCDC Spring Conference 2026

More information here

[Picture: Image: E. Sahin, L. Skoury, S. Treml (2020)]