Cellular Automata Lab
Run simple rules before turning them into theory
This module starts outside Conway's Life with elementary cellular automata: one row of black and white cells, eight neighborhood cases, and 256 possible rules. Rule 30 is the first test because its output looks messy without adding randomness.
Elementary CA
The first release covers the 1D Wolfram-rule family. Langton's ant, HighLife, Brian's Brain, Wireworld, Lenia, and neural CA stay in the roadmap until their demos are ready.
Live elementary CA
Compare Rule 30 with other one-dimensional rules
Run Rule 30 first, then switch to Rule 90, Rule 110, or Rule 184 without leaving the page.
First reading path
Two articles, one working simulator
The first stage keeps the scope narrow. It explains the rule format and then uses Rule 30 as the worked example for deterministic apparent randomness.
Elementary cellular automata
A one-dimensional cellular automaton needs only a row of black and white cells, three-cell neighborhoods, and a rule number from 0 to 255. The useful part is comparison: Rule 30, Rule 90, Rule 110, and Rule 184 do different work with the same tiny rule format.
7 min readElementary CARule 30
Rule 30 is a one-dimensional cellular automaton with a tiny rule table and a stubbornly messy output. From one black cell it produces a triangular trace that is deterministic, reproducible, and still hard to shortcut.
6 min readElementary cellular automata
One-dimensional, two-state rules that turn a first row into a space-time diagram.
Elementary cellular automata: 256 small rules you can actually compare
A one-dimensional cellular automaton needs only a row of black and white cells, three-cell neighborhoods, and a rule number from 0 to 255. The useful part is comparison: Rule 30, Rule 90, Rule 110, and Rule 184 do different work with the same tiny rule format.
Open runnable article6 min readRule 30: a deterministic rule that keeps looking random
Rule 30 is a one-dimensional cellular automaton with a tiny rule table and a stubbornly messy output. From one black cell it produces a triangular trace that is deterministic, reproducible, and still hard to shortcut.
Open runnable article