Evacuating Crowds Using Active Intervention: Modelling and Verification by Simulation.

Abstract: ROYAL INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY Abstract Department of Mathematics Division of Optimization and Systems Theory Bachelor of Science in Engineering Evacuating Crowds: Modelling and Verication by Simulation using Active Intervention by Victor Tingstrom and Karl Nyman The ability to simulate crowds during emergency evacuations could help designers of buildings and crowd management systems to decrease the number of casualties in e.g. res. With the use of computer simulations of crowd evacuation, costly and possibly unethical real-world experiments can be avoided. The proposed crowd evacuation model extends Helbing's Social Force Model with obstacle and collision avoidance. It also includes elements of cognition such as impatience and an exit search algorithm. Two active intervention measures are evaluated: The inclusion of leaders and exit signs. Simulations verify that the model produces realistic human behaviour. They also imply that exit signs decrease evacuation time. Leaders decrease evacuation time but above a threshold ratio of leaders among evacuees, improvement is non-existent. The threshold ratio is dependent on the number of evacuees in a room and varies between 10% and 30% for 20 to 30 evacuees. It is important to assess in which context the model is used in order for the assumptions to be valid. Results should be interpreted qualitatively because quantitative verication has not been made.