Simulation of human migration based on swarm theory

The analysis documented in this paper was completed as part of a larger multi-component simulation effort to evaluate the efficiency of sensor networks in detecting and identifying human subjects remotely. Such an assessment necessitates the accurate simulation of movement of people along roads, known paths or over a more open terrain. The individuals are assumed to be traveling in groups of varying size and usually with a designated leader. The mass motion toward a “goal” or away from an “obstacle” is modeled using swarm theory, which successfully applies basic physical principles to the simulation of emergent collective behavior of biological organisms. Individuals are modeled as particles whose velocities are updated using either dynamic or kinematic schemes. In the present analysis, swarming techniques were found to reproduce quite well the group movement and behavior of individuals over predefined surface conditions, as determined by driving forces, social interactions and environmental conditions.