OODA loop demonstration

What is this?

This is a simple demonstration of an "observe, orient, decide, act (OODA) loop" that I built for Destin to use in this Smarter Every Day video:

Check the video out to learn how this simulation describes a problem with many news sources.

What does the simulation show?

It's an extremely simple model… Each plane has the singular goal of flying towards the other plane. That's it. The only difference between the planes is the OODA interval, otherwise everything else—speed, turn rate, etc—is the same.

Each interval, the plane will determine the bearing direct to the other plane. That bearing then becomes its assigned heading (shown by the vector) until the next interval. Meanwhile it always blindly turns towards and flies its assigned heading.

The planes start in random positions, but the simplicity of the algorithm means they quickly fall into predictable patterns. But if the difference in OODA loop times is significant between the two planes, the pattern it falls into consistently results in one of them "winning"—that is, maintaining a better tactical position.

Technical

Source code for this simulation is available on GitHub.