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Distributed agent-based building evacuation simulator
The optimisation of the evacuation of a building plays a fundamental role in emergency situations. The behaviour of individuals, the directions that civilians receive, and the actions of the emergency personnel, will affect the success of the operation. We describe a simulation system that represents the individual, intelligent, and interacting agents that cooperate and compete while evacuating the building. The system also takes into account detailed information about the building and the sensory capabilities that it may contain. Since the level of detail represented in such a simulation can lead to computational needs that grow at least as a polynomial function of the number of the simulated agents, we propose an agent-oriented Distributed Building Evacuation Simulator (DBES). The DBES is integrated with a wireless sensor network which offers a closed loop representation of the evacuation procedure, including the sensed data and the emergency decision making
Cloud Enabled Emergency Navigation Using Faster-than-real-time Simulation
State-of-the-art emergency navigation approaches are designed to evacuate
civilians during a disaster based on real-time decisions using a pre-defined
algorithm and live sensory data. Hence, casualties caused by the poor decisions
and guidance are only apparent at the end of the evacuation process and cannot
then be remedied. Previous research shows that the performance of routing
algorithms for evacuation purposes are sensitive to the initial distribution of
evacuees, the occupancy levels, the type of disaster and its as well its
locations. Thus an algorithm that performs well in one scenario may achieve bad
results in another scenario. This problem is especially serious in
heuristic-based routing algorithms for evacuees where results are affected by
the choice of certain parameters. Therefore, this paper proposes a
simulation-based evacuee routing algorithm that optimises evacuation by making
use of the high computational power of cloud servers. Rather than guiding
evacuees with a predetermined routing algorithm, a robust Cognitive Packet
Network based algorithm is first evaluated via a cloud-based simulator in a
faster-than-real-time manner, and any "simulated casualties" are then re-routed
using a variant of Dijkstra's algorithm to obtain new safe paths for them to
exits. This approach can be iterated as long as corrective action is still
possible.Comment: Submitted to PerNEM'15 for revie
WSN and RFID integration to support intelligent monitoring in smart buildings using hybrid intelligent decision support systems
The real time monitoring of environment context aware activities is becoming a standard in the service delivery in a wide range of domains (child and elderly care and supervision, logistics, circulation, and other). The safety of people, goods and premises depends on the prompt reaction to potential hazards identified at an early stage to engage appropriate control actions. This requires capturing real time data to process locally at the device level or communicate to backend systems for real time decision making. This research examines the wireless sensor network and radio frequency identification technology integration in smart homes to support advanced safety systems deployed upstream to safety and emergency response. These systems are based on the use of hybrid intelligent decision support systems configured in a multi-distributed architecture enabled by the wireless communication of detection and tracking data to support intelligent real-time monitoring in smart buildings. This paper introduces first the concept of wireless sensor network and radio frequency identification technology integration showing the various options for the task distribution between radio frequency identification and hybrid intelligent decision support systems. This integration is then illustrated in a multi-distributed system architecture to identify motion and control access in a smart building using a room capacity model for occupancy and evacuation, access rights and a navigation map automatically generated by the system. The solution shown in the case study is based on a virtual layout of the smart building which is implemented using the capabilities of the building information model and hybrid intelligent decision support system.The Saudi High Education Ministry and Brunel University (UK
Routing Diverse Evacuees with Cognitive Packets
This paper explores the idea of smart building evacuation when evacuees can
belong to different categories with respect to their ability to move and their
health conditions. This leads to new algorithms that use the Cognitive Packet
Network concept to tailor different quality of service needs to different
evacuees. These ideas are implemented in a simulated environment and evaluated
with regard to their effectiveness.Comment: 7 pages, 7 figure
A Cooperative Emergency Navigation Framework using Mobile Cloud Computing
The use of wireless sensor networks (WSNs) for emergency navigation systems
suffer disadvantages such as limited computing capacity, restricted battery
power and high likelihood of malfunction due to the harsh physical environment.
By making use of the powerful sensing ability of smart phones, this paper
presents a cloud-enabled emergency navigation framework to guide evacuees in a
coordinated manner and improve the reliability and resilience in both
communication and localization. By using social potential fields (SPF),
evacuees form clusters during an evacuation process and are directed to
egresses with the aid of a Cognitive Packet Networks (CPN) based algorithm.
Rather than just rely on the conventional telecommunications infrastructures,
we suggest an Ad hoc Cognitive Packet Network (AHCPN) based protocol to prolong
the life time of smart phones, that adaptively searches optimal communication
routes between portable devices and the egress node that provides access to a
cloud server with respect to the remaining battery power of smart phones and
the time latency.Comment: This document contains 8 pages and 3 figures and has been accepted by
ISCIS 2014 (29th International Symposium on Computer and Information
Sciences
Capacity Based Evacuation with Dynamic Exit Signs
Exit paths in buildings are designed to minimise evacuation time when the
building is at full capacity. We present an evacuation support system which
does this regardless of the number of evacuees. The core concept is to even-out
congestion in the building by diverting evacuees to less-congested paths in
order to make maximal usage of all accessible routes throughout the entire
evacuation process. The system issues a set of flow-optimal routes using a
capacity-constrained routing algorithm which anticipates evolutions in path
metrics using the concept of "future capacity reservation". In order to direct
evacuees in an intuitive manner whilst implementing the routing algorithm's
scheme, we use dynamic exit signs, i.e. whose pointing direction can be
controlled. To make this system practical and minimise reliance on sensors
during the evacuation, we use an evacuee mobility model and make several
assumptions on the characteristics of the evacuee flow. We validate this
concept using simulations, and show how the underpinning assumptions may limit
the system's performance, especially in low-headcount evacuations
Third Revolution Digital Technology in Disaster Early Warning
Networking societies with electronic based technologies can change social morphology, where key social structures and activities are organized around electronically processed information networks.
The application of information and communications technologies (ICT) has been shown to have a positive impact across the emergency or disaster lifecycle. For example, utility of mobile, internet and social network technology, commercial and amateur radio networks, television and video networks and open access technologies for processing data and distributing information can be highlighted. Early warning is the key function during an emergency. Early warning system is an interrelated set of hazard warning, risk assessment, communication and preparedness activities that enable individuals, communities, businesses and others to take timely action to reduce their risks. Third revolution digital technology with semantic features such as standard protocols can facilitate standard data exchange therefore proactive decision making. As a result, people belong to any given hierarchy can access the information simultaneously and make decisions on their own challenging the traditional power relations. Within this context, this paper attempts to explore the use of third revolution digital technology for improving early warning
Emergency response systems for disaster management in buildings
Emergency response operations can benefit from the use of information systems that reduce decision making time and facilitate co-ordination between the participating units. We propose the use of two such systems and evaluate them with a specialised software platform that we have developed for simulation of disasters in buildings. The first system provides movement decision support to evacuees by directing them through the shortest or less hazardous routes to the exit. It is composed of a network of decision nodes and sensor nodes, positioned at specific locations inside the building. The recommendations of the decision nodes are computed in a distributed manner and communicated to the evacuees or rescue personnel in their vicinity. The second system uses wireless-equipped robots that move inside a disaster area and establish a network for two-way communication between trapped civilians and rescuers. They are autonomous and their goal is to maximise the number of civilians connected to the network. We evaluate both proposed information systems in various emergency scenarios, using the specialised simulation software that we developed
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