Modeling of pedestrian evacuation based on the particle swarm optimization algorithm

By applying the evolutionary algorithm of Particle Swarm Optimization (PSO), we have developed a new pedestrian evacuation model. In the new model, we first introduce the local pedestrian’s density concept which is defined as the number of pedestrians distributed in a certain area divided by the area. Both the maximum velocity and the size of a particle (pedestrian) are supposed to be functions of the local density. An attempt to account for the impact consequence between pedestrians is also made by introducing a threshold of injury into the model. The updating rule of the model possesses heterogeneous spatial and temporal characteristics. Numerical examples demonstrate that the model is capable of simulating the typical features of evacuation captured by CA (Cellular Automata) based models. As contrast to CA-based simulations, in which the velocity (via step size) of a pedestrian in each time step is a constant value and limited in several directions, the new model is more flexible in describing pedestrians’ velocities since they are not limited in discrete values and directions according to the new updating rule.     

Study on evacuation behaviors at a T-shaped intersection by a force-driving cellular automata model

A force-driving cellular automata model considering the social force on cell movement, such as the desirous willing of a pedestrian to exit, the repulsive interaction among pedestrians or between pedestrians and obstacles, was set up to investigate the evacuation behaviors of pedestrians at a T-shaped intersection. And an analogical formulation, taking reference of the magnetic force, was introduced to describe the above repulsive actions. Based on the model, the evacuation behaviors of pedestrians were simulated in terms of different pedestrian density, distribution and corridor width, and then evacuation time was obtained and analyzed. Furthermore, an experiment was conducted to verify the results of the presented model. The results demonstrate that when the density of pedestrians is greater than a certain threshold, pedestrians of a certain direction would be jammed by the repulsion from pedestrians of the counter flow from another direction, and the evacuation time of the former would be longer, even though they are closer to the exit, which would possibly result in a serious casualty in an emergency circumstance. And the phenomenon has been validated by the experiments well. In addition, a corresponding critical corridor width related to different DOPs, beyond which the evacuation time could be decreased rapidly due to a strong degradation of jamming behaviors near the T-shaped intersection, was also discovered and predicted by the proposed model.     

Simulation of evacuation processes using a multi-grid model for pedestrian dynamics

Introducing the force concept of a social force model into the lattice gas (LG) model, a new LG-based discrete model entitled “multi-grid model” is composed. In the new model, finer lattice is used; thus each pedestrian occupies multiple grids instead of one, and the rules of interactions among pedestrians or pedestrians and constructions are built. The interaction forces including extrusion, repulsion and friction are considered as passive factors for evacuation. The strength of the drift, or the intensity of the pedestrians to move toward the exit rapidly, is considered an active factor. A simple situation is studied in which pedestrians try to evacuate from a large room with only one door. The influences of interaction forces and drift on evacuation time are analyzed. The mutual restriction relation of the two factors in the course of evacuating is found.     

Modeling of pedestrian evacuation under fire emergency based on an extended heterogeneous lattice gas model

An extended heterogeneous lattice gas (E-HLG) model is developed by introducing an altitude factor into the heterogeneous lattice gas (HLG) model. The altitude factor is used to describe the position height of lattice sites. Evacuation features from a terrace classroom are investigated through simulations using both the model and experiments. To study evacuation processes under fire emergency, an agent-based fire and pedestrian interaction (FPI) model is proposed. It is supposed that the possible moving directions of a pedestrian depend on the environmental temperature field, which is simulated by the software FDS. The walking speed reduction due to the visibility worsening in the FPI model is described by a multi-grid method. It is found that simulation results based on the extended HLG model are in good agreement with the experiments. The altitude factor plays a guidance role to the evacuation, and the fire notably delays the evacuation due to both the harmfulness of the high temperature field and the change of evacuation routes which results in frequent local jamming and clogging.     

基于元胞传输模型的楼梯区域行人运动

针对楼梯区域行人运动进行观测实验,获得行人上下楼过程中的运动数据,通过对数据进行整理与分析,绘制不同过程中流量-密度变化关系图.通过对流密关系图进行定量分析,掌握楼梯区域行人运动特征,并改进原有元胞传输模型,提出楼梯行人运动模型,仿真模拟行人运动过程.模型中,引入势能修正系数,利用异向行人对元胞势能的影响来改变行人的路径选择;引入流量修正系数,描述不同的物理参数对元胞边界最大流量的影响;引入偏移系数,修正移动规则,增强优先方向对行人路径选择行为的影响.然后,通过比较仿真结果与实验数据,对模型及引入参数进行验证和校准.最后,利用校正模型,模拟研究楼梯区域对向行人运动过程,并对势能修正参数进行了灵敏度分析,进一步研究模型参数对行人运动的影响.研究表明,该模型可以模拟刻画楼梯区域行人运动过程,同时验证了楼梯区域行人集散效率跟行人到达率与行人路径选择有关.     

基于元胞自动机的行人疏散流仿真研究

基于元胞自动机对行人疏散流进行仿真研究.模型利用两个动态参数反映行人移动区域内的疏散情况,从而决定行人的行为选择.模型中行人可以根据自身周围的情况选择移动、等待行为.本文仿真研究了行人在正常疏散环境下,系统规模、疏散人数、安全出口宽度、多个安全出口布局对行人疏散时间的影响.研究结果表明,行人疏散时间随行人数量呈线性增加;随安全出口宽度呈负指数性减少;同时,多个安全出口布局的不平衡也会对行人的疏散过程和疏散时间产生一定的影响. 关键词： 元胞自动机 行人疏散流 动态参数 疏散时间     

Simulation study on cooperation behaviors and crowd dynamics in pedestrian evacuation

Pedestrian evacuation is actually a process of behavioral evolution. Interaction behaviors between pedestrians affect not only the evolution of their cooperation strategy, but also their evacuation paths-scheduling and dynamics features. The existence of interaction behaviors and cooperation evolution is therefore critical for pedestrian evacuation. To address this issue, an extended cellular automaton(CA) evacuation model considering the effects of interaction behaviors and cooperation evolution is proposed here. The influence mechanism of the environment factor and interaction behaviors between neighbors on the decision-making of one pedestrian to path scheduling is focused. Average payoffs interacting with neighbors are used to represent the competitive ability of one pedestrian, aiming to solve the conflicts when more than one pedestrian competes for the same position based on a new method. Influences of interaction behaviors, the panic degree and the conflict cost on the evacuation dynamics and cooperation evolution of pedestrians are discussed. Simulation results of the room evacuation show that the interaction behaviors between pedestrians to a certain extent are beneficial to the evacuation efficiency and the formation of cooperation behaviors as well. The increase of conflict cost prolongs the evacuation time. Panic emotions of pedestrians are bad for cooperation behaviors of the crowd and have complex effects on evacuation time. A new self-organization effect is also presented.     

Discretization effect in a multi-grid egress model

In the traditional egress model based on cellular automata, building spaces are divided into discrete grids, the size of which is usually as large as that of a pedestrian. In order to explore the influences of the grid size on the evacuation results, we studied the evacuation process using a multi-grid egress model. In the multi-grid model, a finer grid is used and each pedestrian occupies n×n basic grids. It is found that if the pedestrian always moves one grid at each time step, the evacuation time increases with the decrease of the grid size, and reaches a stable, grid-independent value when the grid size is small enough. Another factor which influences the evacuation results is the length of the time step. It is found that with the increasing length of the time step, the evacuation time has a tendency to increase but endures complex changes. The differences between the single-grid model and multi-grid model may be due to two main reasons. First, in the multi-grid model, the pedestrians are out of alignment so that there are patches of unusable empty spaces as they are smaller in size than a pedestrian. Second, in the multi-grid model, pedestrians tend to reach the exit at the same time, leading to more serious conflicts among pedestrians.     

Simulation of pedestrian evacuation based on an improved dynamic parameter model

An improved dynamic parameter model is presented based on cellular automata. The dynamic parameters, including direction parameter, empty parameter, and cognition parameter, are formulated to simplify tactically the process of making decisions for pedestrians. The improved model reflects the judgement of pedestrians on surrounding conditions and the action of choosing or decision. According to the two-dimensional cellular automaton Moore neighborhood we establish the pedestrian moving rule, and carry out corresponding simulations of pedestrian evacuation. The improved model considers the impact of pedestrian density near exits on the evacuation process. Simulated and experimental results demonstrate that the improvement makes sense due to the fact that except for the spatial distance to exits, people also choose an exit according to the pedestrian density around exits. The impact factors α, β, and γ are introduced to describe transition payoff, and their optimal values are determined through simulation. Moreover, the effects of pedestrian distribution, pedestrian density, and the width of exits on the evacuation time are discussed. The optimal exit layout, i.e., the optimal position and width, is offered. The comparison between the simulated results obtained with the improved model and that from a previous model and experiments indicates that the improved model can reproduce experimental results well. Thus, it has great significance for further study, and important instructional meaning for pedestrian evacuation so as to reduce the number of casualties.     

通过博弈的室内行人疏散动力学研究

在室内行人疏散过程中,行人博弈对疏散效率有着重要的影响.本文把抵制博弈策略更新的强度定义为抵制强度. 为了研究抵制强度对疏散效率的影响, 通过在行人博弈策略更新的概率中引入抵制强度,基于元胞自动机模型数值计算在不同的行人密度, 出口宽度下疏散总时间随抵制强度变化的关系.结果表明: 室内行人疏散过程中, 抵制强度小会使得争抢行为极其容易蔓延. 当行人密度小且出口宽大时, 输入以急速疏散为主的规范信息,鼓励行人模仿优胜者更新博弈策略, 当行人密度大且出口狭小时, 输入以避让为主的规范信息抑制行人争抢,都能提高疏散效率. 最后找出不同条件下与最短疏散总时间相对应的优化抵制强度, 为提高室内行人疏散效率提供一个新的视角.     

Simulation of crowd dynamics in pedestrian evacuation concerning panic contagion: A cellular automaton approach

The study of the panic evacuation process is of great significance to emergency management. Panic not only causes negative emotions such as irritability and anxiety, but also affects the pedestrians decision-making process, thereby inducing the abnormal crowd behavior. Prompted by the epidemiological SIR model, an extended floor field cellular automaton model was proposed to investigate the pedestrian dynamics under the threat of hazard resulting from the panic contagion. In the model, the conception of panic transmission status (PTS) was put forward to describe pedestrians' behavior who could transmit panic emotions to others. The model also indicated the pedestrian movement was governed by the static and hazard threat floor field. Then rules that panic could influence decision-making process were set up based on the floor field theory. The simulation results show that the stronger the pedestrian panic, the more sensitive pedestrians are to hazards, and the less able to rationally find safe exits. However, when the crowd density is high, the panic contagion has a less impact on the evacuation process of pedestrians. It is also found that when the hazard position is closer to the exit, the panic will propagate for a longer time and have a greater impact on the evacuation. The results also suggest that as the extent of pedestrian's familiarity with the environment increases, pedestrians spend less time to escape from the room and are less sensitive to the hazard. In addition, it is essential to point out that, compared with the impact of panic contagion, the pedestrian's familiarity with environment has a more significant influence on the evacuation.     

An extended model for describing pedestrian evacuation under the threat of artificial attack

An extended floor field model was proposed to investigate evacuation behaviors of pedestrians under the threat of artificial attack. In this model, pedestrian movement governed by the static and dynamic floor field, and the motion and assault of artificial attacker were involved simultaneously. Further, injuries with lower velocity and deaths of pedestrians caused by the attacker during evacuation were considered. And a new parameter $k_t$ was introduced. It is the sensitivity coefficient of attack threat floor field and could reflect quantitatively the extent of effect of attack threat on the decision-making of the individual. Moreover, effects of several key parameters such as the sensitivity coefficient, assault intensity and pedestrian density on evacuation dynamics were studied. Results show that pedestrian evacuation would display interesting phenomena transiting from rolling behavior to along-the-wall motion with aggravating extent of the impact of attackers on pedestrians, which refers $k_t$ in the model varying from 0.5 to 0.8. As assault intensity increases, more casualties would be caused and the available evacuation time would decrease, which means people have to flee the room in a shorter time period for survival. When the pedestrian density increases, more clogging at the exit would be generated and pedestrians would be more difficult to evacuate due to the limited capacity of egress and the reduction in the average speed of pedestrian flow caused by the injured. And the injured with limited motion capacity could hardly complete the evacuation owing to that they need more evacuation time and would retard the speed of the pedestrian flow.     

双出口房间内疏散行人流的仿真和实验研究

为研究行人疏散过程中的路径选择行为, 提出了一个基于元胞自动机的行人微观模型, 并组织了三组双出口教室内的学生疏散实验. 模型中, 行人路径选择行为受其到出口距离、前方路径通行能力和行人间排斥力影响. 通过观察实验结果, 得到一些相关现象. 利用实验结果对模型参数进行校正. 利用校正模型对该教室内疏散学生流进行仿真, 结果表明 模型能有效地刻画教室内学生流的疏散特征, 疏散时间随学生人数线性增加. 该研究有助于类似场景中行人疏散策略和方案的制定. 关键词： 元胞自动机 行人疏散 仿真 实验     

Agitated behavior and elastic characteristics of pedestrians in an alternative floor field model for pedestrian dynamics

An alternative floor field (FF) model is proposed by incorporating the agitated behavior and elastic characteristics of pedestrians. The agitated behavior which is regarded as an important factor to pedestrian dynamics is depicted by introducing a parameter to revise the transition probability of pedestrians to move to the neighboring cells. To characterize elasticity of pedestrians, it is assumed that a cell can hold more than one pedestrians in crowd condition, while it can hold only one pedestrian in normal condition. In addition, a method to deal with conflicts is employed by considering the effects of agitated behavior and desired velocity. Numerical simulations are carried out to investigate pedestrian evacuation from a room. The results show, that as the value of agitated parameter increases, the evacuation time decreases to the minimum value and then increases gradually. Also, the faster-is-slower effect which is obtained by some other simulation models can be reproduced by the proposed model. Finally, the influence of exit width and the corresponding mechanism on evacuation process is investigated which is expected to be helpful to the exit design of public rooms.     

Simulation for pedestrian dynamics by real-coded cellular automata (RCA)

In this paper, we propose a new approach for pedestrian dynamics. We call it a real-coded cellular automata (RCA). The scheme is based on the real-coded lattice gas (RLG), which has been developed for fluid simulation. Similar to RLG, the position and velocity can be freely given, independent of grid points. Our strategy including the procedure for updating the position of each pedestrian is explained. It is shown that the movement of pedestrians in an oblique direction to the grid is successfully simulated by RCA, which was not taken into account in the previous CA models. Moreover, from simulations of evacuation from a room with an exit of various widths, we obtain the critical number of people beyond which the clogging appears at the exit.     

Simulation of exit choosing in pedestrian evacuation with consideration of the direction visual field

A modified floor field model is proposed to simulate the pedestrian evacuation behavior in a room with multiple exits by considering the direction visual field. Direction visual field is used to describe the pedestrian’s prediction on the propagation of pedestrian flow along some directions. The proposed model outperforms most of the similar models developed so far in such scenario that pedestrians are initially distributed in a room’s specified zone. Simulation results show that the consideration of direction visual field can better reproduce the evacuation process and reduce evacuation time apparently. Sensitivity analyses of the model parameters are presented.     

Lattice gas simulation and experiment study of evacuation dynamics

In this paper, evacuation dynamics in an office building is studied by experiment and simulation. A lattice gas (LG) model is developed. A parameter called ‘exit bias’ is introduced into the model to describe the occupants’ familiarity with different exits in a building. The evacuation experiment, which consists of seven scenarios under various conditions, is conducted to verify the model and calibrate the model’s input parameters such as pedestrian speed and exit bias. The effect of exit width on flow rate, and the effect of occupants’ familiarity with the building on their route selections, are studied. It is found that the accuracy of simulation depends a lot on the model’s pedestrian speed. The optimal pedestrian speed is decided by not only occupant characteristics, but also flow features determined by people distribution, building structure, environment pressure, etc. LG models with proper pedestrian speed are capable of simulating the dynamic process of orderly emergency evacuations.     

Evacuation behaviors at exit in CA model with force essentials: A comparison with social force model

The problem of emergent evacuation is of obvious importance in common life. However, many existing evacuation models are either computationally inefficient, or are missing some crucial human behaviors in crowds. In this paper, we improve a cellular automata (CA) model introduced recently, which quantifies evacuation process with three basic forces, and compare its performance with the social force model introduced by Helbing et al. in an 200-people evacuation of a single-exit square room. The main characteristics compared include arching, clogging and faster-is-slower behaviors, as well as the evacuation time. The results show that the two models are comparable in all calculations, indicating that the three forces, i.e., repulsion, friction and attraction, are basic reasons for complex behaviors emerged from evacuation. Furthermore, because of its simple rules and fast calculation speed, the discussed CA model is easily analyzed and is very helpful to the applications.     

The excluded-volume effect in microscopic pedestrian simulations

We propose a pedestrian position update rule, which is added to a microscopic pedestrian model to avoid pedestrian overlap. In the rule, the step size of a pedestrian moving in a selected direction at each update is in inverse proportion to the repulsive actions imposed by other pedestrians moving in a direction with an exponential rate. The positions of the pedestrians are then updated in each small time interval. In this way, a barrier between the pedestrians can be generated, and after updating their positions the pedestrians do not overlap with each other. The modified model is compared to the original model through a simulation of the evacuation process of pedestrians in a closed area. The simulation results indicate that the modified model is superior to the original model in several aspects.     

Experiment and modeling of paired effect on evacuation from a three-dimensional space

A novel three-dimensional cellular automata evacuation model was proposed based on stairs factor for paired effect and variety velocities in pedestrian evacuation. In the model pedestrians' moving probability of target position at the next moment was defined based on distance profit and repulsive force profit, and evacuation strategy was elaborated in detail through analyzing variety velocities and repulsive phenomenon in moving process. At last, experiments with the simulation platform were conducted to study the relationships of evacuation time, average velocity and pedestrian velocity. The results showed that when the ratio of single pedestrian was higher in the system, the shortest route strategy was good for improving evacuation efficiency; in turn, if ratio of paired pedestrians was higher, it is good for improving evacuation efficiency to adopt strategy that avoided conflicts, and priority should be given to scattered evacuation.