Applying a discrete event system approach to problems of collective motion in emergency situations

A proper management of evacuation of crowds in panic situations requires the adoption of strategies and escape routes, depending on information collected from the real scenario. To design an effective supervisory controller, a model representing the main aspects of the evacuation dynamics and based on data coming from a distributed sensors network is necessary. To this aim, a Discrete Event System model is developed here to describe the sequence of events occurring in escape procedures. In particular, a systematic approach consisting of few steps allows to define a modular Petri Net representing flows of individuals during egress. A simple case study shows the feasibility of the proposed method.