Crowd evacuation navigation for evasive maneuver of brownian based dynamic obstacles using reciprocal velocity obstacles

This paper presents an approach for evasive maneuver against dynamic obstacles in multi-agent navigation in a crowd evacuation scenario. Our proposed approach is based on reciprocal velocity obstacles (RVO) with a different manner to treat the obstacles. We treat all possible hindrances in velocity space reciprocally thus all collision cones generated by other agents and obstacles are treated in the same RVO manner with the key difference in the effort of avoidance. Our approach assumes that dynamic obstacles bear no awareness of navigation space unlike agents thus the avoidance effort lies on behalf of the mobile agents, creating unmutual effort in an evasive maneuver. We display our approach in an evacuation scenario where a crowd of agents must navigate through an evacuation area trespassing zone filled with dynamic obstacles. These dynamic obstacles consist of random motion built based on Brownian motion thus posses an immense challenge for the mobile agent in order to overcome this hindrance and safely navigate to their evacuation area. Our experimentation shows that 51.1% fewer collisions occurred which is denote safer navigation for agents in approaching their evacuation point

Modeling Family Behaviors in Crowd Simulation

Modeling human behavior for a general situation is difficult, if not impossible. Crowd simulation represents one of the approaches most commonly used to model such behavior. It is mainly concerned with modeling the different human structures incorporated in a crowd. These structures could comprise individuals, groups, friends, and families. Various instances of these structures and their corresponding behaviors are modeled to predict crowd responses under certain circumstances and to subsequently improve event management, facility and emergency planning. Most currently existing modeled behaviors are concerned with depicting individuals as autonomous agents or groups of agents in certain environments. This research focuses on providing structural and state-based behavioral models for the concept of a family incorporated in the crowd. The structural model defines parents, teenagers, children, and elderly as members of the family. It also draws on the associated interrelationships and the rules that govern them. The behavioral model of the family encompasses a number of behavioral models associated with the triggering of certain well-known activities that correspond to the family’s situation. For instance, in normal cases, a family member(s) may be hungry, bored, or tired, may need a restroom, etc. In an emergency case, a family may experience the loss of a family member(s), the need to assist in safe evacuation, etc. Activities that such cases trigger include splitting, joining, carrying children, looking for family member(s), or waiting for them. The proposed family model is implemented on top of the RVO2 library that is using agent-based approach in crowd simulation. Simulation case studies are developed to answer research questions related to various family evacuation approaches in emergency situations

Diseño de planes de evacuación ante emergencias considerando el comportamiento dinámico de peatones basado en simulación microscópica

Muchas personas mueren cada año en situaciones de emergencia por la ausencia de planes de evacuación eficientes. No contar con un plan de acción o contar con uno pero con errores en su diseño, implican mayores tiempos de evacuación que pueden poner en riesgo muchas vidas. Además, es común que las personas no acaten las señales de seguridad, ya que en condiciones de riesgo, estas reaccionan de manera imprevista a causa del pánico y la ansiedad por querer evacuar el lugar. Actualmente, los planes de evacuación indican una ruta de salida específica y no consideran la posibilidad de proponer rutas alternas en caso de bloqueos. Esta investigación tiene como objetivo el diseño de un plan de evacuación considerando aspectos del comportamiento de la persona y múltiples estrategias de enrutamiento. Se escogió el enfoque de modelación basado en agentes para representar el comportamiento heterogéneo de las personas y la interacción entre ellos mismos y el entorno. Este plan de evacuación dinámico incorpora una señalización especial para guiar a las personas a tomar rutas alternativas en situaciones de congestión. El plan dinámico también incluye la creación de salidas de emergencia como modificación a la estructura del edificio.MaestríaMagister en Ingeniería Industria

A framework for crowd simulation based on the JMonkey game engine

La simulación de multitudes juega un papel crucial cuando se trata del desarrollo de entornos inteligentes. La mayoría de los investigadores desarrollan simulaciones usando motores de juegos comerciales a través de los editores que éstos proporcionan. Esto di culta el poder realizar una experimentación profunda sobre simulaciones de multitudes, y fuerza que la línea de investigación deba atenerse al paradigma de desarrollo propuesto por la herramienta. El objetivo principal del trabajo desarrollado es la contribución de un simulador de multitudes basado en 3D, con una arquitectura modular y extensible, adecuada para la experimentación con simulaciones de multitudes. Este framework se centrará de forma especial en la navegación y la coordinación de multitudes sobre un modelo realista del entorno, capaz de reproducir situaciones del mundo real. El simulador incluye implementaciones de algoritmos conocidos para el movimiento de multitudes, integrando también implementaciones de terceros. El trabajo tiene en cuenta la necesidad de representaciones visualmente convincentes de la simulación más allá de las representaciones 2D, utilizadas regularmente en la literatura. Para ello, se contribuye con extensiones a herramientas de terceros que permiten importar texturas, animaciones y mallas que mejoran la calidad de la simulación. El desempeño de la simulación se demuestra en un caso de estudio donde el desafío es encontrar una población cuyo comportamiento, dentro del simulador, reproduce un determinado tráfico entrante / saliente medido en áreas específicas de un edificio. Este trabajo ha sido financiado por el proyecto MOSI-AGIL (S2013 / ICE-3019) a través de la Gobierno de la Comunidad de Madrid y Fondos Estructurales Europeos (FEDER)

Physical crowds and psychological crowds: applying self-categorization theory to computer simulation of collective behaviour

Computer models are used to simulate pedestrian behaviour for safety at mass events. Previous research has indicated differences between physical crowds of co-present individuals, and psychological crowds who mobilise collective behaviour through a shared social identity. This thesis aimed to examine the assumptions models use about crowds, conduct two studies of crowd movement to ascertain the behavioural signatures of psychological crowds, and implement these into a theoretically-driven model of crowd behaviour. A systematic review of crowd modelling literature is presented which explores the assumptions about crowd behaviour being used in current models. This review demonstrates that models portray the crowd as either an identical mass with no inter-personal connections, unique individuals with no connections to others, or as small groups within a crowd. Thus, no models have incorporated the role of self-categorisation theory needed to simulate collective behaviour. The empirical research in this thesis aimed to determine the behavioural effects of self-categorisation on pedestrian movement. Findings from a first study illustrate that, in comparison to a physical crowd, perception of shared social identities in the psychological crowd motivated participants to maintain close proximity with ingroup members through regulation of their speed and distance walked. A second study showed that collective self-organisation seemed to be increased by the presence of an outgroup, causing ingroup members to tighten formation to avoid splitting up. Finally, a computer model is presented which implements the quantified behavioural effects of self-categorisation found in the behavioural studies. A self-categorisation parameter is introduced to simulate ingroup members self-organising to remain together. This is compared to a physical crowd simulation with group identities absent. The results demonstrate that the self-categorisation parameter provides more accurate simulation of psychological crowd behaviour. Thus, it is argued that models should implement self-categorisation into simulations of psychological crowds to increase safety at mass events

Approches organisationnelles pour la conception de systèmes multi-agents dédiés à la gestion des connaissances; Application aux projets d'ingénierie et d'innovation Composition du jury

Approches organisationnelles pour la conception de systèmes multi-agents dédiés à la gestion des connaissances; Application aux projets d’ingénierie et d’innovatio