Obstacles in pedestrian simulations

Abstract

This report presents two new models to simulate the behavior of pedestrians. The first model uses a potential field model approach invented by Hoogendoorn and Bovy, but calculates the field using a wave algorithm instead of partial differential equations. The second model uses significant points in the environment to generate first a visibility graph and then a minimal spanning tree using the algorithm from Dijkstra. The walking direction and speed of the pedestrians depends on three forces similar to the social force model by Helbing. The first force leads the agent toward its destination by using either the potential field or the calculated spanning tree. A second force regulates the interactions between agents, so ensuring that agents do not walk into other pedestrians and try to keep a certain distance from each other. The third force guarantees that agents do not walk into walls and that they try to keep a certain distance from walls. The behavior of pedestrians simulated with the two models is quite similar, the main difference lies in the models ’ performance. The spanning tree approach is slower than the potential field model when simple simulations are used, as it spends most time on the creation of the visibility graph. The advantages of the spanning tree model are found when more sophisticated simulations with different destinations are run, as all spannin