Position: (0, 0)

Statistics

Steps: 0
Cells Visited: 0
Current Direction: Right
Current State: 0
Head Position: 0
Tape Length: 0

About Langton's Ant

Langton's ant is a 2D Turing machine with simple rules that produce emergent complexity. Starting from a uniform grid, the ant follows these rules:

  • On a white square: Turn right, flip color, move forward
  • On a black square: Turn left, flip color, move forward

Despite these simple rules, the ant builds complex structures including the mysterious "highway" pattern that emerges after ~10,000 steps.

Constraint Theory Connection: This demonstrates how local constraints (simple rules at each cell) create global emergent behavior - a core principle of constraint theory.