Modeling and simulation of crowd egress dynamics in a discrete event environment

In this paper, a queueing network model representing the main aspects of the evacuation dynamics from buildings is developed. A systematic method allows to define in few steps a queueing network representing flows of individuals during egress. In particular, different modules, whose parameters depend on statistical characteristics of motion, are defined for spaces composing the evacuated environment and properly combined. The proposed model is conceived to develop control strategies for real time management of evacuation of crowds, by means of the adaption of strategies and escape routes, depending on information collected from the real scenario. To test the method, a simulation model is implemented in the MATLAB/Simulink^copy environment, providing a tool suitable for designing and validating evacuation strategies.