Incorporating decision making capability into the social force model in unidirectional flow

Abstract

The supremacy of microscopic models in pedestrian studies has been evaluated on their ability to reproduce the self-organization phenomenon of pedestrian flow. The social force model which is characterized by considering the pedestrians as self-driven particles has preceded many others in presenting these phenomena. Over the last few years, aspects of decision making capability have been incorporated gradually into the model in both normal and evacuation situations. However, the decision making aspects in social force model is still in infant stage. In this study, the social force model is extended by incorporating the investigation ability for the independent pedestrians as an aspect of decision making capability. Afterwards, by performing simulations, we examine qualitatively the effect of activating the investigation ability for the independent pedestrians on their motion in a unidirectional walkway compared with the original model. © Medwell Journals, 2010.