Challenge Overview
Topcoder is working with a group of researchers that are competing to understand a series of simulated environments. There are four of these environments: Urban World, Conflict World, Power World, and Disaster World. Each “world” is defined by a set of data but the full range of possible variables used to develop the simulated worlds isn’t disclosed to working groups in advance. The research teams have to propose and request useful data and then justify how it would be collected in the target environment.
In this challenge, we’re asking the Topcoder Community to review the research requests that have been previously submitted by the research team for the Conflict World and to suggest additional variables that should be considered/included in analysis of this simulated world. If you had to simulate the behavior of agents in this environment what would you want to know? And crucially, how would you obtain that information?
We’re attaching 4 supporting documents for this challenge:
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README.txt - This document outlines the world parameters at a high level and describes the general scenario the world is attempting to emulate.
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Simulation Definition.zip - These tsv documents provides details about each field. This describes the data that is provided initially to each team.
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D - Conflict World Requests - This is document is a compilation of all the previous research requests and questions.
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Sample Data.zip - The initial data set for this world is quite sparse. But providing a little data from the previous phase explains how the team receives additional data about Agents and Event Types from the simulation teams. The Event Types are listed in total_evde.txt.
In the current phase of the competition, the Conflict World Team’s goal is to discover as much as possible about the current environment so they can answer questions like the following:
- How are events types related?
- Which event types are the most influential?
- What factors could account for satisfaction level changes in the agents?
- How do natural events affect other events?
Final Submission Guidelines
Evaluation Criteria
This challenge will be subjectively evaluated. But we’ll be using the following criteria to evaluate your suggestions:
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Originality - Your suggestion for a variable isn’t helpful if is has been previously suggested in the Conflict World Request Document or has already been provided. Please search this document carefully.
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Practicality of Collection Method - In addition to suggesting data, a constraint that our team is under is the ability to collect the data. Note that in the previous research requests for in the Conflict World Request Document, the collection methodology is carefully specified. Please include this.
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Relevance - Fundamentally, we’re trying to model the relationship and interactions of agents and events in this environment to determine their impact and reach. The suggested variables should inform this analysis. Please describe how the proposed variable would be used in modeling this environment.
Submission
Please submit an excel document with the following columns:
Variable Name
Description
Collection Method
Analytical Value/Usage
Prizes:
In this challenge, we’ll be paying a $150 for each relevant variable and associated collection method that the research team wants to include in their research requests.���