Simulation of crowd dynamics in panic situations using a fuzzy logic-based behavioural model

Tragic events in overcrowded situations have highlighted the importance of the availability of good models for pedestrian behaviour under emergency conditions. Crowd models are generally macroscopic or microscopic. In the first case, the crowd is considered to be like a fluid, so that its movement can be described through differential equations. In the second case, the collective behaviour of the crowd is the result of interactions among individual elements of the system. In this paper, we propose a microscopic model of crowd evacuation that incorporates the fuzzy perception and anxiety embedded in human reasoning. A Visual C++ application was developed to evaluate the outcomes of the model. The model was tested in scenarios with presence of a fixed obstacle. Simulation results have been analyzed in terms of door capacity and compared with an experimental study.