A generic and density-sensitive method for multi-scale pedestrian dynamics

TL;DR

This paper introduces a hybrid pedestrian simulation model that combines continuous and discrete spatial approaches, dynamically switching based on density to improve accuracy and efficiency in multi-scale pedestrian dynamics modeling.

Contribution

It presents a novel hybrid simulation method integrating continuous and discrete models with dynamic density-based switching for improved multi-scale pedestrian simulation.

Findings

The hybrid model achieves consistent coupling of different spatial resolutions.

It demonstrates superior computational efficiency over standard microscopic simulators.

The model accurately reproduces established pedestrian dynamics results.

Abstract

Microscopic approaches to the simulation of pedestrian dynamics rely on modelling the behaviour of individual agents and their mutual interactions. Regarding the spatial resolution, microscopic simulators are either based on continuous (SpaceCont) or discrete (SpaceDisc) approaches. To combine the advantages of both approaches, we propose to integrate SpaceCont and SpaceDisc into a hybrid simulation model. Such a hybrid approach allows simulating critical regions with a continuous spatial resolution and uncritical ones with discrete spatial resolution while enabling consistent information exchange between the two simulation models. We introduce a generic approach that provides consistent solutions for the challenges resulting from coupling diverging time steps and spatial resolutions. Furthermore, we present a dynamic and density-sensitive approach to detect dense areas during the simulation run. If a critical region is detected, the simulation model used in this area is dynamically switched to a space-continuous one. The correctness of the hybrid model is evaluated by comparison with a established simulator. Its superior computational efficiency is shown by runtime comparison with a standard microscopic simulation.on with the simulation results of other, well-established simulation models.