Using a physics engine to express an AI problem? That's an interesting solution, but that's certainly the first time I've heard of one being used like this?
But you know, the problem as stated was how a bunch of influences affect...cows. So think of them as a bunch of mechanical cows instead, and the influences are modeled through springs and collisions, things like that.
AI is often cast as constraint solving, and a physics engine is basically a constraint solver. Of course, for real the AI engine runs next to the physics engine. Ah! I should have mentioned Rodney Brooks' work:
where you model intelligence as a bunch of simple prioritized reflex-like behaviors. Now, on each step, you have each "entity" execute their reflexes according to the current environment, where some reflexes act to disable others. The reflexes are incredibly simple, you probably couldn't even express A* path finding, but you could have the act as ants following a diffusely scented trail. Also see his paper "Elephant's Don't Play Chess."
AI is often cast as constraint solving, and a physics engine is basically a constraint solver. Of course, for real the AI engine runs next to the physics engine. Ah! I should have mentioned Rodney Brooks' work:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Subsumption_architecture
where you model intelligence as a bunch of simple prioritized reflex-like behaviors. Now, on each step, you have each "entity" execute their reflexes according to the current environment, where some reflexes act to disable others. The reflexes are incredibly simple, you probably couldn't even express A* path finding, but you could have the act as ants following a diffusely scented trail. Also see his paper "Elephant's Don't Play Chess."