PyCA is a small library that facilitates the implementation of Artificial Life models (such as cellular automata) using tensor libraries, such as PyTorch.
All you need to do is sub-class the Automaton class, define how to step your model, define how to draw it, and you can visualize it in real time!
You need python 3.11 or later (ideally, might work with earlier versions).
FOR WINDOWS PC WITH GPUS : If you are running windows, and have a NVIDIA GPU, please run the following command before proceeding : pip3 install torch torchvision --index-url https://download.pytorch.org/whl/cu126. If something doesn't work afterwards, visit https://pytorch.org/ and choose an earlier version. Linux and Mac users can safely skip this step.
Install the pyca package by running pip install -e . from the projects directory (i.e., the same directory as README.md). You are all set!
To run the main user interface that allows you to interact with the implementend automata, run :
python simulate.py
If you have a cuda GPU, run :
python simulate.py -d cuda
More generally you can change the Screen size with the options simulate.py [-h] [-s SCREEN SCREEN] [-w WORLD WORLD] [-d DEVICE]
-s SCREEN SCREEN, --screen SCREEN SCREEN
Screen dimensions as width height (default: 1280 720)
-w WORLD WORLD, --world WORLD WORLD
World dimensions as width height (default: 200 200)
-d DEVICE, --device DEVICE
Device to run on: "cuda" or "cpu" or "mps" (default: cpu)
NOTE : 'mps' device is known to behave very differently. Other devices untested
To learn to use the library, the best way is to follow the tutorial at this link. It will teach all the basics how to implement the Game of Life, with mouse and keyboard interactivity!
Documentation is under construction. In the meantime, the code is heavily documented with docstrings
├─pyca
│ ├──automata
│ │ ├──models/ # All implemented automata
│ │ ├──utils/
│ │ ├──automaton.py # Base Automaton class
│ ├──interface/ # Utils for the PyCA GUI
├─saved_models # Where pre-trained/saved models are stored
├─lenia_cool_params # Cool parameters for Lenia automaton, to be moved to saved_models
├─train_nca/ # Codebase to train Neurall Cellular Automata
├─main.py # Logic for main Pygame loop
├─simulate.py # Main entry script for PyCA (Still under construction, will change in the future.)