A background of many years of hands-on development and experience of developing complex pedestrian simulation software. With a track record in interdisciplinary research at the intersection of advanced mathematical and computational techniques.
As a senior member of the EXODUS R&D team I lead the development of cutting edge software that is sold in over 37 countries including China, US, Japan and Germany. Skilled in turning complex scientific research and prototype code into production ready systems for use by external clients. With experience of product and systems development I have proven expertise in leading development teams, defining product strategy and maintaining quality.
Experience of full software development life cycle including initial project proposal, contract biding and negotiations.
When evacuating through fire environments, the presence of smoke may not only have a physiologica... more When evacuating through fire environments, the presence of smoke may not only have a physiological impact on the evacuees but may also lead occupants to adapt their evacuation strategy through the adoption of another exit. This paper attempts to introduce this type of adaptive behaviour within the buildingEXODUS evacuation model through enabling occupants to make decisions concerning the selection of the most viable available exit during an evacuation involving fire. The development of this adaptive behaviour requires the introduction of several new capabilities namely, the representation of the occupants’ familiarity with the structure, the behaviour of an occupant that is engulfed in smoke and the behaviour of an occupant that is faced with a smoke barrier. The appropriateness of the redirection decision is dependent upon behavioural data gathered from real fire incidents (in the UK and USA) that is used to construct the redirection probabilities. The implementation is shown to provide a more complex and arguably more realistic representation of this behaviour than that provided previously.
This article examines occupant behavior exhibited during evacuation conditions. This is based on ... more This article examines occupant behavior exhibited during evacuation conditions. This is based on a review of a wide range of published literature concerned with evacuation. Factors influencing evacuation performance can be categorized into four broad areas, namely, configurational, environmental, procedural, and, most importantly, behavioral. The contributory factors associated with each of the four influencing categories are examined in detail and it is suggested that these factors should be represented within evacuation models.
Forest fires are an annual occurrence in many parts of the world forcing large-scale evacuation. ... more Forest fires are an annual occurrence in many parts of the world forcing large-scale evacuation. The frequent and growing occurrence of these events makes it necessary to develop appropriate evacuation plans for areas that are susceptible to forest fires. The buildingEXODUS evacuation model has been extended to model large-scale urban evacuations by including the road network and open spaces (e.g. parks, green spaces and town squares) along with buildings. The evacuation simulation results have been coupled with the results of a forest fire spread model and applied to the Swinley forest fire which occurred in Berkshire, UK in May 2011. Four evacuation procedures differing in the routes taken by the pedestrians were evaluated providing key evacuation statistics such as time to reach the assembly location, the distance travelled, congestion experienced by the agents and the safety margins associated with using each evacuation route. A key finding of this work is the importance of formulating evacuation procedures that identifies the threatened population, provides timely evacuation notice, identifies appropriate routes that maintains a safe distance from the hazard front thereby maximising safety margins even at the cost of taking longer evacuation routes. Evacuation simulation offers a means of achieving these goals.
This paper presents a detailed description of an agent-based lift (elevator) model developed with... more This paper presents a detailed description of an agent-based lift (elevator) model developed within buildingEXODUS software intended to represent evacuation scenarios. The main components of the lift model are described including the lift: kinematics, attributes and dispatch control. The agent-lift interaction model is also described, including the lift bank selection, the lift waiting area behaviour (wait location selection and wait duration) and the lift car selection and entry. The lift model is used to investigate a series of full building evacuation scenarios based on a hypothetical 50 floor building with four staircases and a population of 7840 agents. The analysis explores the relative merits of using up to 32 lifts (arranged in four banks) and various egress lift dispatch strategies to evacuate the entire building population. Findings from the investigation suggest that the most efficient evacuation strategy utilizes a combination of lifts and stairs to empty the building and clear the upper half of the building in minimum time. Combined stair lift evacuation times have been shown to be as much as 50% faster than stair only evacuation times. The introduction of the agent milling behaviour resulted in reductions in evacuation times compared with the same scenarios without milling behaviour.
The devastating effects of wildfires cannot be overlooked; these include massive resettlement of ... more The devastating effects of wildfires cannot be overlooked; these include massive resettlement of people, destruction of property and loss of lives. The considerable distances over which wild fires spread and the rates at which these fires can spread is a major concern as this places considerable challenges on the evacuation mechanisms that need to be put in place. It is therefore crucial for personnel, involved in evacuation planning, to obtain reliable estimates of evacuation times faster than real time, to assist their decision making in response to actual unfolding of events. In this work, we present a hybrid approach, which we refer to as the Hybrid Spatial Discretisation (HSD) for large scale evacuation simulation. The HSD integrates the three spatial representation techniques typically used for representing space usage in evacuation models; namely Coarse regions, Fine nodes and Continuous regions. In this work, we describe the core models constituting the HSD coupled with the approaches used for representing the transition of agents across the different spatial types. Using a large scale case, we demonstrate how the HSD can be used to obtain higher resolution of results where it is most required while optimising the use of available computational resources for the overall simulation. The HSD is seen to provide improvements in run times of more than 40% when compared to modelling the whole area using just the Fine node method.
International guidelines (IMO MSC.Circ 1533) specify that evacuation models used to certify evacu... more International guidelines (IMO MSC.Circ 1533) specify that evacuation models used to certify evacuation performance of passenger ships must demonstrate that the calculated representative evacuation time, the sample 95th percentile time τ S , is lower than a prescribed Pass/Fail Criterion Time (PFCT). In this paper a Confidence Interval Convergence Test (CICT) method is presented that minimises the computational burden required to demonstrate that a model design has passed/failed by calculating a CI for the population 95th percentile time, τ P , rather than simply relying on τ S determined from an arbitrary sample of 500 simulations as specified in the current guidelines. The CICT has comparable pass/fail accuracy to using 500 simulations whilst significantly reducing the number of simulations required when the PFCT is far from the τ P. In addition, the proposed method has superior accuracy to the convergent method described in the IMO guidelines. Furthermore, the methodology described in the guidelines fails to identify situations where there may be uncertainty in the pass/fail status due to proximity of τ P to PFCT. The CICT identifies these situations and provides a means of resolving the uncertainty. The CICT can be applied to any stochastic evacuation model to determine parameter convergence. KEYWORDS: 95 th percentile, confidence intervals, evacuation modeling, convergence, maritime safety, IMO. Nomenclature CI Confidence Interval CI(x%) CI with an x% confidence level CICT Confidence Interval Convergence Test IMO International Maritime Organisation PFCT Pass/Fail Criterion Time TET Total Evacuation Time (s) n sample size of simulations R CI range of the CI (s) T b TET of simulation b (s) τ 95 th Percentile TET (s) τ P population 95 th Percentile TET (s) τ S(=n) sample (of size n) 95 th Percentile TET (s)
Evacuation of high-rise construction sites is one of the most challenging evacuation scenarios co... more Evacuation of high-rise construction sites is one of the most challenging evacuation scenarios conceivable. Over the past 50 years, very little evacuation research has focused on issues uniquely associated with high-rise construction sites. To address this, FSEG, in collaboration with IOSH and Multiplex, undertook a three-year project to develop an evidence base describing evacuation performance of high-rise construction site workers. This data was used to define a unique evacuation validation data-set for high-rise construction sites. The validation data-set, described in this paper, contains a complete description of the evacuation scenario, including geometry, population, procedures, response times and exit curves. A performance metric is defined which objectively describes the goodness of fit between model predictions and experimental data. Given the level of uncertainty in the validation data-set an objective measure of acceptable agreement between the model prediction and the experimental data is specified for the metric. The level of acceptability is based on the performance of a modified version of buildingEXODUS, which provides a benchmark defining an acceptable level of agreement with the experimental data. The analysis demonstrates that suitably adapted evacuation simulation software can predict the evacuation performance of high-rise construction sites with a reasonable level of accuracy.
Naval platform survivability is a key enabler to ensure maritime warfighting capability. Therefor... more Naval platform survivability is a key enabler to ensure maritime warfighting capability. Therefore, assessment of naval platform recoverability, after a damage event, is critical to assure platform survivability in a warfighting environment. To support such an assessment, an innovative modelling and simulation capability, known as the Naval Damage Incident Recoverability Toolset (NavDIRecT) is being developed. NavDIRecT is being designed as a component-based, open architecture providing the necessary framework to allow analysts to integrate domain models of their choosing. NavDIRecT will facilitate analysis of warfighting and peacetime damage events using a variety of mathematical models, thereby avoiding the limitations of other survivability assessment techniques. Development of NavDIRecT is exemplified by integrating the human movement simulator, maritimeEXODUS, the fire simulation environment, SMARTFIRE, and a three-dimensional naval platform model. NavDIRecT will enable analysis of crew interaction with damage events, thereby allowing acquisition programs and mission planners to examine platform survivability with respect to mission capability requirements. The impetus for NavDIRecT development is for assessment of naval platform survivability and mission success; however, the tools and techniques are equally suitable for use in incident management, training, and analysis of merchant and commercial shipping in accordance with the Safety of Life at Sea (SOLAS).
In hospitals, the evacuation of those with severe movement impairments can be highly problematic ... more In hospitals, the evacuation of those with severe movement impairments can be highly problematic for the patients, for the staff and for other evacuees. It is critical to understand the performance of horizontal and vertical evacuation procedures , including the means by which people with reduced mobility can be assisted during stair descent. Microsimulation modelling provides a useful tool to assess evacuation strategies, given the challenges of preparing and transporting patients in need of ongoing care and the unfeasibility of real evacuation drills. However, current simulation models typically focus on the movement of individual agents, not the staff-patient interactions and sizable equipment required to carry out assisted evacuation. To address this, the buildingEXODUS evacuation model has been enhanced to represent moving objects in addition to moving individual agents. This paper describes the modelling theory behind this development, where dedicated data has been applied to enable the explicit specification of evacuation devices, operated by agents (for instance, representing the vertical travel speeds achieved-with averages ranging between 0.6 m/s and 0.84 m/s-when employing different movement devices). Algorithms are presented that calculate the movement of devices along corridors, through doorways and in stairway descent, including a method of geometric decomposition of the available hospital evacuation routes. This new functionality addresses the key evacuation components of repeated patient collection and has numerous applications, both in simulating hospital evacuation and in representing evacuation of other premises that include people with reduced mobility. Examination of the performance of this functionality found it predicated performance within 6% of expectation. Once further testing is completed, the resultant tool can be used to significantly enhance planning and diagnostic capabilities related to the evacuation of hospital and other healthcare facilities.
Journal of Fire Protection Engineering, Feb 1, 2007
Signage systems are widely used in buildings to provide information for wayfinding, thereby assis... more Signage systems are widely used in buildings to provide information for wayfinding, thereby assisting in navigation during normal circulation of pedestrians and, more importantly, exiting information during emergencies. An important consideration in determining the effectiveness of signs is establishing the region from which the sign is visible to occupants, the so-called visibility catchment area (VCA). This study attempts to factor into the determination of the VCA of signs, the observation angle of the observer. In building regulations, it is implicitly assumed that the VCA is independent of the observation angle. A theoretical model is developed to explain the relationship between the VCA and observation angle and experimental trials are performed in order to assess the validity of this model. The experimental findings demonstrate a consistency with the theoretical model. Given this result, the functionality of a comprehensive evacuation model is extended in accordance with the assumptions on which the theoretical model is based and is then demonstrated using several examples.
Signage systems are widely used in the built environment to aid occupant wayfinding during both c... more Signage systems are widely used in the built environment to aid occupant wayfinding during both circulation and evacuation. Recent research conducted by the authors shows that only 38% of people ‘see’ conventional static emergency signage in presumed emergency situations in an unfamiliar built environment, even if the sign is located directly in front of them and their vision is unobstructed. However, most people who see the sign follow the sign. These results suggest that current emergency guidance signs are less effective as an aid to wayfinding than they potentially can be and that signs are likely to become more effective if their detectability can be improved while upholding the comprehensibility of the guidance information they provide. A novel dynamic signage design is proposed to address this issue. The effectiveness of the new sign is tested under almost identical experimental settings and conditions as in the previous experiments examining conventional, static signs. The results show that 77% of people ‘see’ the dynamic sign and 100% of them go on to follow the sign. In addition, a dynamic method to identify that an exit route is no longer viable is tested using an international survey to gauge understanding of the new signage concept. Survey results suggest that the purpose of the new sign can be clearly understood by over 90% of the sample. Signage systems are widely used in the built environment to aid occupant wayfinding during both circulation and evacuation. Recent research conducted by the authors shows that only 38% of people ‘see’ conventional static emergency signage in presumed emergency situations in an unfamiliar built environment, even if the sign is located directly in front of them and their vision is unobstructed. However, most people who see the sign follow the sign. These results suggest that current emergency guidance signs are less effective as an aid to wayfinding than they potentially can be and that signs are likely to become more effective if their detectability can be improved while upholding the comprehensibility of the guidance information they provide. A novel dynamic signage design is proposed to address this issue. The effectiveness of the new sign is tested under almost identical experimental settings and conditions as in the previous experiments examining conventional, static signs. The results show that 77% of people ‘see’ the dynamic sign and 100% of them go on to follow the sign. In addition, a dynamic method to identify that an exit route is no longer viable is tested using an international survey to gauge understanding of the new signage concept. Survey results suggest that the purpose of the new sign can be clearly understood by over 90% of the sample.
When evacuating through fire environments, the presence of smoke may not only have a physiologica... more When evacuating through fire environments, the presence of smoke may not only have a physiological impact on the evacuees but may also lead occupants to adapt their evacuation strategy through the adoption of another exit. This paper attempts to introduce this type of adaptive behaviour within the buildingEXODUS evacuation model through enabling occupants to make decisions concerning the selection of the most viable available exit during an evacuation involving fire. The development of this adaptive behaviour requires the introduction of several new capabilities namely, the representation of the occupants’ familiarity with the structure, the behaviour of an occupant that is engulfed in smoke and the behaviour of an occupant that is faced with a smoke barrier. The appropriateness of the redirection decision is dependent upon behavioural data gathered from real fire incidents (in the UK and USA) that is used to construct the redirection probabilities. The implementation is shown to provide a more complex and arguably more realistic representation of this behaviour than that provided previously.
This article examines occupant behavior exhibited during evacuation conditions. This is based on ... more This article examines occupant behavior exhibited during evacuation conditions. This is based on a review of a wide range of published literature concerned with evacuation. Factors influencing evacuation performance can be categorized into four broad areas, namely, configurational, environmental, procedural, and, most importantly, behavioral. The contributory factors associated with each of the four influencing categories are examined in detail and it is suggested that these factors should be represented within evacuation models.
Forest fires are an annual occurrence in many parts of the world forcing large-scale evacuation. ... more Forest fires are an annual occurrence in many parts of the world forcing large-scale evacuation. The frequent and growing occurrence of these events makes it necessary to develop appropriate evacuation plans for areas that are susceptible to forest fires. The buildingEXODUS evacuation model has been extended to model large-scale urban evacuations by including the road network and open spaces (e.g. parks, green spaces and town squares) along with buildings. The evacuation simulation results have been coupled with the results of a forest fire spread model and applied to the Swinley forest fire which occurred in Berkshire, UK in May 2011. Four evacuation procedures differing in the routes taken by the pedestrians were evaluated providing key evacuation statistics such as time to reach the assembly location, the distance travelled, congestion experienced by the agents and the safety margins associated with using each evacuation route. A key finding of this work is the importance of formulating evacuation procedures that identifies the threatened population, provides timely evacuation notice, identifies appropriate routes that maintains a safe distance from the hazard front thereby maximising safety margins even at the cost of taking longer evacuation routes. Evacuation simulation offers a means of achieving these goals.
This paper presents a detailed description of an agent-based lift (elevator) model developed with... more This paper presents a detailed description of an agent-based lift (elevator) model developed within buildingEXODUS software intended to represent evacuation scenarios. The main components of the lift model are described including the lift: kinematics, attributes and dispatch control. The agent-lift interaction model is also described, including the lift bank selection, the lift waiting area behaviour (wait location selection and wait duration) and the lift car selection and entry. The lift model is used to investigate a series of full building evacuation scenarios based on a hypothetical 50 floor building with four staircases and a population of 7840 agents. The analysis explores the relative merits of using up to 32 lifts (arranged in four banks) and various egress lift dispatch strategies to evacuate the entire building population. Findings from the investigation suggest that the most efficient evacuation strategy utilizes a combination of lifts and stairs to empty the building and clear the upper half of the building in minimum time. Combined stair lift evacuation times have been shown to be as much as 50% faster than stair only evacuation times. The introduction of the agent milling behaviour resulted in reductions in evacuation times compared with the same scenarios without milling behaviour.
The devastating effects of wildfires cannot be overlooked; these include massive resettlement of ... more The devastating effects of wildfires cannot be overlooked; these include massive resettlement of people, destruction of property and loss of lives. The considerable distances over which wild fires spread and the rates at which these fires can spread is a major concern as this places considerable challenges on the evacuation mechanisms that need to be put in place. It is therefore crucial for personnel, involved in evacuation planning, to obtain reliable estimates of evacuation times faster than real time, to assist their decision making in response to actual unfolding of events. In this work, we present a hybrid approach, which we refer to as the Hybrid Spatial Discretisation (HSD) for large scale evacuation simulation. The HSD integrates the three spatial representation techniques typically used for representing space usage in evacuation models; namely Coarse regions, Fine nodes and Continuous regions. In this work, we describe the core models constituting the HSD coupled with the approaches used for representing the transition of agents across the different spatial types. Using a large scale case, we demonstrate how the HSD can be used to obtain higher resolution of results where it is most required while optimising the use of available computational resources for the overall simulation. The HSD is seen to provide improvements in run times of more than 40% when compared to modelling the whole area using just the Fine node method.
International guidelines (IMO MSC.Circ 1533) specify that evacuation models used to certify evacu... more International guidelines (IMO MSC.Circ 1533) specify that evacuation models used to certify evacuation performance of passenger ships must demonstrate that the calculated representative evacuation time, the sample 95th percentile time τ S , is lower than a prescribed Pass/Fail Criterion Time (PFCT). In this paper a Confidence Interval Convergence Test (CICT) method is presented that minimises the computational burden required to demonstrate that a model design has passed/failed by calculating a CI for the population 95th percentile time, τ P , rather than simply relying on τ S determined from an arbitrary sample of 500 simulations as specified in the current guidelines. The CICT has comparable pass/fail accuracy to using 500 simulations whilst significantly reducing the number of simulations required when the PFCT is far from the τ P. In addition, the proposed method has superior accuracy to the convergent method described in the IMO guidelines. Furthermore, the methodology described in the guidelines fails to identify situations where there may be uncertainty in the pass/fail status due to proximity of τ P to PFCT. The CICT identifies these situations and provides a means of resolving the uncertainty. The CICT can be applied to any stochastic evacuation model to determine parameter convergence. KEYWORDS: 95 th percentile, confidence intervals, evacuation modeling, convergence, maritime safety, IMO. Nomenclature CI Confidence Interval CI(x%) CI with an x% confidence level CICT Confidence Interval Convergence Test IMO International Maritime Organisation PFCT Pass/Fail Criterion Time TET Total Evacuation Time (s) n sample size of simulations R CI range of the CI (s) T b TET of simulation b (s) τ 95 th Percentile TET (s) τ P population 95 th Percentile TET (s) τ S(=n) sample (of size n) 95 th Percentile TET (s)
Evacuation of high-rise construction sites is one of the most challenging evacuation scenarios co... more Evacuation of high-rise construction sites is one of the most challenging evacuation scenarios conceivable. Over the past 50 years, very little evacuation research has focused on issues uniquely associated with high-rise construction sites. To address this, FSEG, in collaboration with IOSH and Multiplex, undertook a three-year project to develop an evidence base describing evacuation performance of high-rise construction site workers. This data was used to define a unique evacuation validation data-set for high-rise construction sites. The validation data-set, described in this paper, contains a complete description of the evacuation scenario, including geometry, population, procedures, response times and exit curves. A performance metric is defined which objectively describes the goodness of fit between model predictions and experimental data. Given the level of uncertainty in the validation data-set an objective measure of acceptable agreement between the model prediction and the experimental data is specified for the metric. The level of acceptability is based on the performance of a modified version of buildingEXODUS, which provides a benchmark defining an acceptable level of agreement with the experimental data. The analysis demonstrates that suitably adapted evacuation simulation software can predict the evacuation performance of high-rise construction sites with a reasonable level of accuracy.
Naval platform survivability is a key enabler to ensure maritime warfighting capability. Therefor... more Naval platform survivability is a key enabler to ensure maritime warfighting capability. Therefore, assessment of naval platform recoverability, after a damage event, is critical to assure platform survivability in a warfighting environment. To support such an assessment, an innovative modelling and simulation capability, known as the Naval Damage Incident Recoverability Toolset (NavDIRecT) is being developed. NavDIRecT is being designed as a component-based, open architecture providing the necessary framework to allow analysts to integrate domain models of their choosing. NavDIRecT will facilitate analysis of warfighting and peacetime damage events using a variety of mathematical models, thereby avoiding the limitations of other survivability assessment techniques. Development of NavDIRecT is exemplified by integrating the human movement simulator, maritimeEXODUS, the fire simulation environment, SMARTFIRE, and a three-dimensional naval platform model. NavDIRecT will enable analysis of crew interaction with damage events, thereby allowing acquisition programs and mission planners to examine platform survivability with respect to mission capability requirements. The impetus for NavDIRecT development is for assessment of naval platform survivability and mission success; however, the tools and techniques are equally suitable for use in incident management, training, and analysis of merchant and commercial shipping in accordance with the Safety of Life at Sea (SOLAS).
In hospitals, the evacuation of those with severe movement impairments can be highly problematic ... more In hospitals, the evacuation of those with severe movement impairments can be highly problematic for the patients, for the staff and for other evacuees. It is critical to understand the performance of horizontal and vertical evacuation procedures , including the means by which people with reduced mobility can be assisted during stair descent. Microsimulation modelling provides a useful tool to assess evacuation strategies, given the challenges of preparing and transporting patients in need of ongoing care and the unfeasibility of real evacuation drills. However, current simulation models typically focus on the movement of individual agents, not the staff-patient interactions and sizable equipment required to carry out assisted evacuation. To address this, the buildingEXODUS evacuation model has been enhanced to represent moving objects in addition to moving individual agents. This paper describes the modelling theory behind this development, where dedicated data has been applied to enable the explicit specification of evacuation devices, operated by agents (for instance, representing the vertical travel speeds achieved-with averages ranging between 0.6 m/s and 0.84 m/s-when employing different movement devices). Algorithms are presented that calculate the movement of devices along corridors, through doorways and in stairway descent, including a method of geometric decomposition of the available hospital evacuation routes. This new functionality addresses the key evacuation components of repeated patient collection and has numerous applications, both in simulating hospital evacuation and in representing evacuation of other premises that include people with reduced mobility. Examination of the performance of this functionality found it predicated performance within 6% of expectation. Once further testing is completed, the resultant tool can be used to significantly enhance planning and diagnostic capabilities related to the evacuation of hospital and other healthcare facilities.
Journal of Fire Protection Engineering, Feb 1, 2007
Signage systems are widely used in buildings to provide information for wayfinding, thereby assis... more Signage systems are widely used in buildings to provide information for wayfinding, thereby assisting in navigation during normal circulation of pedestrians and, more importantly, exiting information during emergencies. An important consideration in determining the effectiveness of signs is establishing the region from which the sign is visible to occupants, the so-called visibility catchment area (VCA). This study attempts to factor into the determination of the VCA of signs, the observation angle of the observer. In building regulations, it is implicitly assumed that the VCA is independent of the observation angle. A theoretical model is developed to explain the relationship between the VCA and observation angle and experimental trials are performed in order to assess the validity of this model. The experimental findings demonstrate a consistency with the theoretical model. Given this result, the functionality of a comprehensive evacuation model is extended in accordance with the assumptions on which the theoretical model is based and is then demonstrated using several examples.
Signage systems are widely used in the built environment to aid occupant wayfinding during both c... more Signage systems are widely used in the built environment to aid occupant wayfinding during both circulation and evacuation. Recent research conducted by the authors shows that only 38% of people ‘see’ conventional static emergency signage in presumed emergency situations in an unfamiliar built environment, even if the sign is located directly in front of them and their vision is unobstructed. However, most people who see the sign follow the sign. These results suggest that current emergency guidance signs are less effective as an aid to wayfinding than they potentially can be and that signs are likely to become more effective if their detectability can be improved while upholding the comprehensibility of the guidance information they provide. A novel dynamic signage design is proposed to address this issue. The effectiveness of the new sign is tested under almost identical experimental settings and conditions as in the previous experiments examining conventional, static signs. The results show that 77% of people ‘see’ the dynamic sign and 100% of them go on to follow the sign. In addition, a dynamic method to identify that an exit route is no longer viable is tested using an international survey to gauge understanding of the new signage concept. Survey results suggest that the purpose of the new sign can be clearly understood by over 90% of the sample. Signage systems are widely used in the built environment to aid occupant wayfinding during both circulation and evacuation. Recent research conducted by the authors shows that only 38% of people ‘see’ conventional static emergency signage in presumed emergency situations in an unfamiliar built environment, even if the sign is located directly in front of them and their vision is unobstructed. However, most people who see the sign follow the sign. These results suggest that current emergency guidance signs are less effective as an aid to wayfinding than they potentially can be and that signs are likely to become more effective if their detectability can be improved while upholding the comprehensibility of the guidance information they provide. A novel dynamic signage design is proposed to address this issue. The effectiveness of the new sign is tested under almost identical experimental settings and conditions as in the previous experiments examining conventional, static signs. The results show that 77% of people ‘see’ the dynamic sign and 100% of them go on to follow the sign. In addition, a dynamic method to identify that an exit route is no longer viable is tested using an international survey to gauge understanding of the new signage concept. Survey results suggest that the purpose of the new sign can be clearly understood by over 90% of the sample.
The research reported in this dissertation was undertaken to investigate efficient computational ... more The research reported in this dissertation was undertaken to investigate efficient computational methods of automatically generating three dimensional unstructured tetrahedral meshes.
The work on two dimensional triangular unstructured grid generation by Lewis and Robinson [LeR76] is first examined, in which a recursive bisection technique of computational order nlog(n) was implemented. This technique is then extended to incorporate new methods of geometry input and the automatic handling of multiconnected regions. The method of two dimensional recursive mesh bisection is then further modified to incorporate an improved strategy for the selection of bisections. This enables an automatic nodal placement technique to be implemented in conjunction with the grid generator. The dissertation then investigates methods of generating triangular grids over parametric surfaces. This includes a new definition of surface Delaunay triangulation with the extension of grid improvement techniques to surfaces.
Based on the assumption that all surface grids of objects form polyhedral domains, a three dimensional mesh generation technique is derived. This technique is a hybrid of recursive domain bisection coupled with a min-max heuristic triangulation algorithm. This is done to achieve a computationally efficient and reliable algorithm coupled with a fast nodal placement technique. The algorithm generates three dimensional unstructured tetrahedral grids over polyhedral domains with multi-connected regions in an average computational order of less than nlog(n).
While there are several published studies for modelling pedestrian behavior at signalized crossin... more While there are several published studies for modelling pedestrian behavior at signalized crossings in SUMO, the behavior of pedestrians crossing a road at a location other than a designated crossing, has not been considered to date. This work looks at how to represent pedestrian agents selecting to cross a road at arbitrary locations along the length of the road. The pedestrian agents utilize a gap acceptance model that represents how a pedestrian decides when to cross a road, based on the frequency and speed of approaching vehicles, while considering the spacing between them. Furthermore, the gap acceptance model allows the pedestrians to choose to cross all lanes in one go, when safe to do so, known as Double Gap or one stage crossing. Alternatively, if an agent is identified as a risk-taker, they may choose to cross lane by lane, sometimes waiting in the middle of the road, known as Rolling Gap or risk-taker crossing behavior. The inclusion of these two crossing behaviors allows for situations where urgency plays an important role in behavioral decision making, such as in emergencies, rush hour or in crowd management events. The outlined pedestrian crossing model is attained by integrating the pedestrian model EXODUS with SUMO, via the TraCI API. * Lead author, researcher and software developer. † Research into crossing behavior, specification of pedestrian crossing model and contributing author. ‡ Coupling of SUMO with pedestrian model EXODUS and contributing author. § Research on human behavior, analysis of research and contributing author.
When designing a ship, the traditional driving issues are seen to be powering, stability, strengt... more When designing a ship, the traditional driving issues are seen to be powering, stability, strength and seakeeping. Consequently it is only when the broad form of the layout has been finalised that issues relating to crewing, ship operations and evolutions, such as evacuation, tend to be investigated within the overall design constraints. This can result in significant operational inefficiencies and potentially hazardous environments on board. The overall objective of this UK Engineering and Physical Sciences Reseasrch Council (EPSRC) funded multidisciplinary research project, which commenced in October 2004, is to show the advantages of integrating the cutting edge technologies of Escape Simulation and Ship Configurational Design. This will enhance the guidance for all parties in the design, regulation, construction and operation of ships with regard to the main aspects of personnel movement on board. To achieve this, the project draws on the well-established expertise of the University of Greenwich in the area of fire and evacuation modelling and of University College London (UCL) in the area of ship architecture design. Crucial to the success of this project are the definition of suitable Human Performance Metrics (HPM). These human dynamics criteria are being used to test the suitability of the vessel layout for its intended purpose using the SURFCON CAD definition. A range of criteria, including environmental, procedural, personnel and geometric, have been defined and for a typical Royal Navy frigate. The personnel are considered to be in one of seven functional groups (e.g. operation & navigation, damage control & fire fighting, flight and propulsion & machinery). The human factors features in the SURFCON model that will interface with the maritimeEXODUS personnel simulation are presented, using the selected frigate as an example. The paper concludes by summarising the remainder of the work to be covered in the second half of this three year project, and draws initial conclusions on the scope that such an integration of personnel simulation into initial ship design opens up for the future practice of ship design.
Proceedings Pedestrian and Evacuation Dynamics , Jun 13, 2011
In agent-based pedestrian circulation models, the simulation of the pedestrian-environment intera... more In agent-based pedestrian circulation models, the simulation of the pedestrian-environment interaction is mostly achieved by imposing on each agent a predefined list of goal locations which the agent visits in turn. However, in reality human behaviour in complex environments is highly dynamic and fixed plans are often changed and adjusted according to emergent conditions and the person’s individual interpretation of these events, in particular the amount of time available to achieve all the desired tasks. In this paper we present a prototype emotion model implemented within the buildingEXODUS evacuation and pedestrian dynamics software which enables simulated agents to react to perceived time pressures by modifying their behaviour. The model is demonstrated using a circulation scenario within a rail terminal.
Proceedsings Pedestrian and Evacuation Dynamics 2008, Dec 15, 2009
Evaluating ship layout for human factors (HF) issues using simulation software such as maritimeEX... more Evaluating ship layout for human factors (HF) issues using simulation software such as maritimeEXODUS can be a long and complex process. The analysis requires the identification of relevant evaluation scenarios; encompassing evacuation and normal operations; the development of appropriate measures which can be used to gauge the performance of crew and vessel and finally; the interpretation of considerable simulation data. In this paper we present a systematic and transparent methodology for assessing the HF performance of ship design which is both discriminating and diagnostic.
Proceedings Pedestrian and Evacuation Dynamics 2005 , 2005
The WTC evacuation of 11 September 2001 provides an unrepeatable opportunity to probe into and un... more The WTC evacuation of 11 September 2001 provides an unrepeatable opportunity to probe into and understand the very nature of evacuation dynamics and with this improved understanding, contribute to the design of safer, more evacuation efficient, yet highly functional, high rise buildings. Following 9/11 the Fire Safety Engineering Group (FSEG) of the University of Greenwich embarked on a study of survivor experiences from the WTC Twin Towers evacuation. The experiences were collected from published accounts appearing in the print and electronic mass media and are stored in a relational data base specifically developed for this purpose. Using these accounts and other available sources of information FSEG also undertook a series of numerical simulations of the WTC North Tower. This paper represents an overview of the results from both studies.
Proceedings RINA International Conferemce. on Human Factors in Ship Design, Feb 21, 2007
Traditionally, when designing a ship the driving issues are seen to be powering, stability, stren... more Traditionally, when designing a ship the driving issues are seen to be powering, stability, strength and seakeeping. Issues related to ship operations and evolutions are investigated later in the design process, within the constraint of a fixed layout. This can result in operational inefficiencies and limitations, excessive crew numbers and potentially hazardous situations.
University College London and the University of Greenwich are in the final year of a three year EPSRC funded research project to integrate the simulation of personnel movement into early stage ship design. This allows the assessment of onboard operations while the design is still amenable to change.
The project brings together the University of Greenwich developed maritimeEXODUS personnel movement simulation software and the SURFCON implementation of the Design Building Block approach to early stage ship design, which originated with the UCL Ship Design Research team. Central to the success of this project is the definition of a suitable series of Naval Combatant Human Performance Metrics which can be used to assess the performance of the design in different operational scenarios.
The paper outlines the progress made on deriving the human performance metric from human factors criteria measured in simulations and their incorporation into a Behavioural Matrix for analysis. It describes the production of a series of
SURFCON ship designs based on the RN Type 22 Batch 3 frigate, and their analysis using the PARAMARINE and maritimeEXODUS software. Conclusions to date will be presented on the integration of personnel movement simulation into the preliminary ship design process.
Proceedings of the Third International Conference on Fire Research and Engineering, Oct 4, 1999
This paper describes the extension of the buildingEXODUS evacuation model in order to: allow occu... more This paper describes the extension of the buildingEXODUS evacuation model in order to: allow occupants to be assigned a limited set of tasks, display co-operation between occupants, represent muster locations and allow occupants to re-enter the structure. By identifying some of the occupants as "staff" and assigning them with a set of patients preparation and rescue tasks, the model is better suited to simulate evacuation from hospital structures. The modified model is demonstrated through the simulation of the evacuation of a geometry resembling the Nightingale Ward. The simulation is repeated with the presence of fire hazards.
Interflam 2016 : proceedings of the fourteenth international conference, Jul 4, 2016
The growing number of incidents have shown that areas that need to be evacuated can be extremely ... more The growing number of incidents have shown that areas that need to be evacuated can be extremely large involving substantial population. As such, it is crucial for evacuation simulation tools to feature capabilities of handling the scale and complexity of such scenarios whilst providing results faster than real time. Faster simulations can assist ongoing decision making during actual evacuation situations. In this paper, we present a simulation environment capable of representing the evacuation space using different approaches thereby allowing modellers to harness the benefits of each approach. The flexibility of this technique is demonstrated by a large urban scale egress simulation using the Coarse and Fine nodal approaches and the computational performance and accuracy issues are discussed.
Conference: Complexity, Informatics and Cybernetics, Feb 1, 2019
Emergency management of urban or territorial scale disasters can benefit from a new generation of... more Emergency management of urban or territorial scale disasters can benefit from a new generation of applications that simulate mass evacuation. Most of emergency plans drawn for large scale emergencies, indeed, lack in quantitative assessments of the time the people need to escape from an active threat (flooding, forest fire, toxic spills, e.g.) and to reach a safe place. The European Commission's H2020 Innovation Action IN-PREP [1] has developed a tool that gathers data to support decisions in emergencies involving large numbers of people. The tool was demonstrated for the first time in Spoleto (Italy) during a table-top exercise carried out on November 29, 2018. The exercise, simulating the occurrence of a HazMat leakage in urban environment, was organised by the Italian National Fire Corps. It aimed at providing first responders and emergency managers with a more efficient emergency planning, while contributing to improving preparedness and response to complex disasters in sensitive environments. The research demonstrated that traditional emergency plans are inadequate to deal with real case large scale emergencies, while the integrated decision support system developed by the IN-PREP action can already substantially help in reaching the goal set by rules and standards.
Proceedings of the 9th International Conference on Pedestrian and Evacuation Dynamics , Feb 1, 2020
During a major evacuation of high capacity buildings, such as a tower block or transportation hub... more During a major evacuation of high capacity buildings, such as a tower block or transportation hub, the emergency services will need to consider the safety of the people within the vicinity of the emergency. However, in general, when assessing the safety of a building for evacuation only the behaviour within the building is considered. One method of assessing this is to utilise a computer based simulation tool. This research outlines a number of developments required to simulate the impact of traffic on the evacuation process in an urban environment in relation to post-exiting behaviour. It uses a unique data set and model capabilities for representing pedestrian-vehicle interaction post-evacuation, which also considers the impact of time pressures on decision making. In addition, a number of software developments and pedestrian behaviours are identified for bridging the behavioural gaps when interfacing an emergency pedestrian model with a traffic simulation.
The 24th GIS Research UK (GISRUK 2016) conference, Feb 1, 2016
Evacuation planners and government organisations that deal with large scale disasters can benefit... more Evacuation planners and government organisations that deal with large scale disasters can benefit from a tool that allows them to simulate the pedestrian evacuation of an on-going and evolving event. The work outlined here describes a pragmatic approach taken to semi-automate the process of using vector map data from an Open Data GIS system, namely OpenStreetMap, and generating a pedestrian network which can be utilised by the urban evacuation model urbanEXODUS. A novel hybrid approach is used to model space and therefore the movement of people which combines a coarse region flow rate model with an individual agent based system.
Abstract Emergency exit signs used in buildings aid occupant wayfinding during an emergency. Howe... more Abstract Emergency exit signs used in buildings aid occupant wayfinding during an emergency. However, research suggests that conventional signs lack the ability to attract people's attention in an emergency. This can result in the underuse of emergency exits and the overuse of main entrances with potentially fatal consequences. The effectiveness of signage depends on their ability to draw occupants' attention. A novel dynamic signage design, Active Dynamic Signage System (ADSS), was proposed to address this issue through incorporating flashing green LEDs into the arrow of conventional exit signs. Its effectiveness was tested in a series of experiments achieving a detection rate of up to 77% as opposed to 38% for conventional exit signs. In this paper, the signage model within the buildingEXODUS software was adapted to represent the ADSS and a series of simulations were run to investigate the potential effectiveness of the ADSS compared to conventional signs. The scenarios examined involved a supermarket geometry, 900 agents and three levels of signage configuration. The modelling results suggest that the ADSS can reduce total egress times for this structure by 18%, congestion by 36%, travel distances by 12%, resulting in a more efficient evacuation compared with that produced by conventional signage.
Advances in intelligent systems and computing, 2019
Buildings, structures, public venues and urban areas can typically accommodate large numbers of p... more Buildings, structures, public venues and urban areas can typically accommodate large numbers of people and behaviours. Consequently, it is a challenge for authorities to demonstrate that these heavily populated structures can be evacuated quickly and efficiently in emergencies such as fires, flash floods amongst others. Computational evacuation models are increasingly being used as decision support tools for evaluating evacuation efficiency. These models typically use either macroscopic or microscopic approaches for simulating pedestrian navigation. However, these approaches represent a trade-off between accuracy and scalability. In this work, we present a hybrid evacuation model, combining both macroscopic and microscopic modelling techniques, which can be scaled to larger structures, while maintaining accuracy. This is demonstrated in this work by applying the model to a building, rail tunnel station and large urban area.
When designing a new passenger ship or naval vessel or modifying an existing design, how do we en... more When designing a new passenger ship or naval vessel or modifying an existing design, how do we ensure that the proposed design is safe from an evacuation point of view? In the wake of major maritime disasters such as the Herald of Free Enterprise and the Estonia and in light of the growth in the numbers of high density, high-speed ferries and large capacity cruise ships, issues concerned with the evacuation of passengers and crew at sea are receiving renewed interest. In the maritime industry, ship evacuation models are now recognised by IMO through the publication of the Interim Guidelines for Evacuation Analysis of New and Existing Passenger Ships including Ro-Ro. This approach offers the promise to quickly and efficiently bring evacuation considerations into the design phase, while the ship is "on the drawing board" as well as reviewing and optimising the evacuation provision of the existing fleet. Other applications of this technology include the optimisation of operating procedures for civil and naval vessels such as determining the optimal location of a feature such as a casino, organising major passenger movement events such as boarding/disembarkation or restaurant/theatre changes, determining lean manning requirements, location and number of damage control parties, etc. This paper describes the development of the maritimeEXODUS evacuation model which is fully compliant with IMO requirements and briefly presents an example application to a large passenger ferry.
The Hackitt Report into the tragic loss of 72 lives in the Grenfell Tower fire, identified failur... more The Hackitt Report into the tragic loss of 72 lives in the Grenfell Tower fire, identified failures and poor practices associated with the UK construction industry. To address these failures the report makes several recommendations, including the development of a “golden thread of information” to be embedded throughout the entire building lifecycle enabling the recording and preservation of information. This is to be achieved through Building Information Modelling (BIM). However, to create a “golden thread of information” in BIM from the Fire Safety Engineering (FSE) perspective particularly for the performance-based approach, many significant challenges and limitations must be resolved. These challenges include the fact that no FSE specific information exchange is available in BIM and that the results produced by fire and evacuation modelling tools are not explicitly captured in the BIM Industry Foundation Classes (IFC) Model. Of the FSE tools that support BIM, this is mainly limited to geometry extraction from an IFC file. In this paper, a practical conceptual strategy to pave the way to resolve these problems is proposed. A number of developments by the authors are discussed, forming part of an international collaboration project proposal administered by buildingSMART to enhance the IFC Model from the FSE perspective. Additionally, to evaluate and demonstrate the benefits of two-way data flow between BIM and FSE tools, a prototype system together with a preliminary FSE based analysis database have been developed. The work presented in this paper, provides a practical road map for creating a 'golden thread of information' in BIM for performance-based FSE analysis.
When designing a new passenger ship or modifying an existing design, how do we ensure that the pr... more When designing a new passenger ship or modifying an existing design, how do we ensure that the proposed design and crew emergency procedures are safe from an evacuation resulting from fire or other incident? In the wake of major maritime disasters such as the Scandinavian Star, Herald of Free Enterprise, Estonia and in light of the growth in the numbers of high density, high-speed ferries and large capacity cruise ships, issues concerning the evacuation of passengers and crew at sea are receiving renewed interest. Fire and evacuation models with features such as the ability to realistically simulate the spread of fire and fire suppression systems and the human response to fire as well as the capability to model human performance in heeled orientations linked to a virtual reality environment that produces realistic visualisations of the modelled scenarios are now available and can be used to aid the engineer in assessing ship design and procedures. This paper describes the maritimeEX...
In all evacuation simulation tools, the space through which agents navigate and interact is repre... more In all evacuation simulation tools, the space through which agents navigate and interact is represented by one the following methods, namely Coarse regions, Fine nodes and Continuous regions. Each of the spatial representation methods has its benefits and limitations. For instance, the Coarse approach allows simulations to be processed very rapidly, but is unable to represent the interactions of the agents from an individual perspective; the Continuous approach provides a detailed representation of agent movement and interaction but suffers from relatively poor computational performance. The Fine nodal approach presents a compromise between the Continuous and Coarse approaches such that it allows agent interaction to be modelled while providing good computational performance. Our approach for representing space in an evacuation simulation tool differs such that it allows evacuation simulations to be run using a combination of Coarse regions, Fine nodes and Continuous regions. This a...
Signage systems are widely used in the built environment to aid occupant wayfinding during both c... more Signage systems are widely used in the built environment to aid occupant wayfinding during both circulation and evacuation. Recent research conducted by the authors shows that only 38% of people 'see' conventional static emergency signage in presumed emergency situations in an unfamiliar built environment, even if the sign is located directly in front of them and their vision is unobstructed. However, most people who see the sign follow the sign. These results suggest that current emergency guidance signs are less effective as an aid to wayfinding than they potentially can be and that signs are likely to become more effective if their detectability can be improved while upholding the comprehensibility of the guidance information they provide. A novel dynamic signage design is proposed to address this issue by enhancing the affordance of the sign, while maintaining the simplicity and clarity of the information conveyed by the sign and the code compliance of the sign. The effectiveness of the new sign is tested under the same experimental settings and conditions as in previous experiments examining conventional, static signs. The results show that 77% of people 'see' the dynamic sign and 100% of them go on to follow the sign.
Computer based mathematical models describing the aircraft evacuation process have a vital role t... more Computer based mathematical models describing the aircraft evacuation process have a vital role to play in the design and development of safer aircraft, in the implementation of safer and more rigorous certification criteria and in post mortuuum accident investigation. As the risk of personal injury and costs involved in performing large-scale evacuation experiments for the next generation 'Ultra High Capacity Aircraft' (UHCA) are expected to be high, the development and use of these evacuation modelling tools may become essential if these aircraft are to prove a viable reality. In this paper the capabilities and limitation of the air-EXODUS evacuation model are described. Its successful application to the prediction of a recent certificaiton trial, prior to the actual trial taking place, is described. Also described is a newly defined parameter known as OPS which can be used as a measure of evacuation trial optimality. Finally, the data requirements of aircraft evacuation models is discussed along with several projects currently underway at the University of Greenwich designed to obtain this data. Included in this discussion is a description of the AASK - Aircraft Accident Statistics and Knowledge - data base which contains detailed information from aircraft accident survivors.
Fire Research and Engineering, Third International Conference Proceedings, Oct 5, 1999
This paper describes the extension of the buildingEXODUS evacuation model in order to: allow occu... more This paper describes the extension of the buildingEXODUS evacuation model in order to: allow occupants to be assigned a limited set of tasks, display co-operation between occupants, represent muster locations and allow occupants to re-enter the structure. By identifying some of the occupants as" staff and assigning them with a set of patient preparation and rescue tasks, the model is better suited to simulate evacuations from hospital structures. The modified model is demonstrated through the simulation of the ...
This paper presents results from a questionnaire study of participant exit awareness and suggeste... more This paper presents results from a questionnaire study of participant exit awareness and suggested exit selection in the event of emergency evacuations involving narrow body aircraft. The study involved 459 participants with varying flight experience. The results of this study supports the hypothesis that poor understanding by passengers of aircraft exit location and configuration may be a contributory factor in the resulting poor exit selection decisions made by passengers in emergency situations. These results have important safety ...
This paper presents a description of a new agent based elevator sub-model developed as part of th... more This paper presents a description of a new agent based elevator sub-model developed as part of the buildingEXODUS software intended for both evacuation and circulation applications. A description of each component of the newly developed model is presented, including the elevator kinematics and associated pedestrian behaviour. The elevator model is then used to investigate a series of full building evacuation scenarios based on a hypothetical 50 floor building with four staircases and a population of 7,840 agents. The ...
In this paper, the buildingEXODUS (V1.1) evacuation model is described and discussed and attempts... more In this paper, the buildingEXODUS (V1.1) evacuation model is described and discussed and attempts at qualitative and quantitative model validation are presented. The data sets used for validation are the Stapelfeldt and Milburn House evacuation data. As part of the validation exercise, the sensitivity of the buildingEXODUS predictions to a range of variables is examined, including: occupant drive, occupant location, exit flow capacity, exit size, occupant response times and geometry definition. An important consideration that has been highlighted by this work is that any validation exercise must be scrutinised to identify both the results generated and the considerations and assumptions on which they are based. During the course of the validation exercise, both data sets were found to be less than ideal for the purpose of validating complex evacuation models. However, the buildingEXODUS evacuation model was found to be able to produce reasonable qualitative and quantitative agreemen...
While there are several published studies for modelling pedestrian behavior at signalized crossin... more While there are several published studies for modelling pedestrian behavior at signalized crossings in SUMO, the behavior of pedestrians crossing a road at a location other than a designated crossing, has not been considered to date. This work looks at how to represent pedestrian agents selecting to cross a road at arbitrary locations along the length of the road. The pedestrian agents utilize a gap acceptance model that represents how a pedestrian decides when to cross a road, based on the frequency and speed of approaching vehicles, while considering the spacing between them. Furthermore, the gap acceptance model allows the pedestrians to choose to cross all lanes in one go, when safe to do so, known as Double Gap or one stage crossing. Alternatively, if an agent is identified as a risk-taker, they may choose to cross lane by lane, sometimes waiting in the middle of the road, known as Rolling Gap or risk-taker crossing behavior. The inclusion of these two crossing behaviors allows...
Given the importance of occupant behavior on evacuation efficiency, a new behavioral feature has ... more Given the importance of occupant behavior on evacuation efficiency, a new behavioral feature has been developed and implemented into buildingEXODUS. This feature concerns the response of occupants to exit selection and re-direction. This behavior is not simply pre-determined by the user as part of the initialization process, but involves the occupant taking decisions based on their previous experiences and the information available to them. This information concerns the occupants prior knowledge of the enclosure and line-of-sight ...
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The work on two dimensional triangular unstructured grid generation by Lewis and Robinson [LeR76] is first examined, in which a recursive bisection technique of computational order nlog(n) was implemented. This technique is then extended to incorporate new methods of geometry input and the automatic handling of multiconnected regions. The method of two dimensional recursive mesh bisection is then further modified to incorporate an improved strategy for the selection of bisections. This enables an automatic nodal placement technique to be implemented in conjunction with the grid generator. The dissertation then investigates methods of generating triangular grids over parametric surfaces. This includes a new definition of surface Delaunay triangulation with the extension of grid improvement techniques to surfaces.
Based on the assumption that all surface grids of objects form polyhedral domains, a three dimensional mesh generation technique is derived. This technique is a hybrid of recursive domain bisection coupled with a min-max heuristic triangulation algorithm. This is done to achieve a computationally efficient and reliable algorithm coupled with a fast nodal placement technique. The algorithm generates three dimensional unstructured tetrahedral grids over polyhedral domains with multi-connected regions in an average computational order of less than nlog(n).
University College London and the University of Greenwich are in the final year of a three year EPSRC funded research project to integrate the simulation of personnel movement into early stage ship design. This allows the assessment of onboard operations while the design is still amenable to change.
The project brings together the University of Greenwich developed maritimeEXODUS personnel movement simulation software and the SURFCON implementation of the Design Building Block approach to early stage ship design, which originated with the UCL Ship Design Research team. Central to the success of this project is the definition of a suitable series of Naval Combatant Human Performance Metrics which can be used to assess the performance of the design in different operational scenarios.
The paper outlines the progress made on deriving the human performance metric from human factors criteria measured in simulations and their incorporation into a Behavioural Matrix for analysis. It describes the production of a series of
SURFCON ship designs based on the RN Type 22 Batch 3 frigate, and their analysis using the PARAMARINE and maritimeEXODUS software. Conclusions to date will be presented on the integration of personnel movement simulation into the preliminary ship design process.