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NEWS

WP5 SafePass LDER Crowd Simulations

Amongst the activities of WP5, CDI is developing the Location-based Dynamic Evacuation Route (LDER), which builds upon our work in the crowd modelling field. Our crowd modelling algorithms are used through two pieces of technology to help evacuate ships safely:

 

  • SafePASS Model Designer (SMD), which is a visual software tool used to input the ship layouts, routes and simulation parameters. This software can test evacuation scenarios and aid calibration and validation of the crowd algorithms.

  • LDER (Location-based Dynamic Evacuation Route) component, which runs in real-time, communicating with the rest of the SafePASS system to provide a live forecast of evacuation and predict optimum evacuation routes.

 

SafePASS Model Designer

The SafePass Model Designer is used to build the network of routes and movement spaces on the ship. Simuations are run that move digital representations of passengers through this network, simulating an evacuation process. Various statistics such as ‘time to muster’ and crowd density levels can be output from the simulations. This model has been validated against Safety of Life At Sea criteria for evacuation models.

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Through the SafePASS model designer, we calibrate the crowd simulation models and parameters for a particular vessel. This is done through analysing statistics and visual respresentations of the passengers in the model. Such visualisations are only for use by a crowd simulation expert - the end result is a crowd model network ready to be used in the LDER simulation in real time.

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  • Location Based Dynamics Evacuation Route (LDER) component

  • The LDER component is part of the SafePASS core system, taking data from various sources around the ship such as indoor localisation, counting and incidents and generating outputs such as crowd congestion and routes that can be displayed on the Common Operational Picture (COP) system and communicated to passengers’ dynamic exit signs, apps or lifesaving appliances (LSAs).

  • The LDER component comprises a back end implementation of the crowd simulation algorithms and a ‘simulation server’ which operates within the SafePASS Core Engine to send/receive messages to the wider system. Based on this live information, it instigates simulations that need to be run.

  • Fire and flood simulation data is intended to be used to prevent routing passengers to a dangerous area and to understand the likely motions of the ship during the evacuation and abandonment process.

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  • The intention of the algorithms, strategy selection and LDER calculation is to take into consideration the needs of any individual passenger, whilst optimising the overall evacuation for all passengers. For example, the simulation considers accessible routes and using demographic information to model crowd movement and behaviour based on the passengers who have boarded a ship on any particular journey. E.g. elderly cruise ship passengers who may move more slowly and not react as quickly to an emergency situation on board.

  • Different evacuation plans can be simulated and tested. An optimum set of routes is calculated based on different measurements such as the shortest time to muster, least congestion or utilising the safest routes. Current evacuation practices can be modelled as well as new strategies such as dynamically selecting a muster station for passengers.

  • Dynamic Evacuation Strategy

  • Dynamically Allocated Muster Stations is an improvement to the mustering during an evacuation that the crowd modelling algorithms can calculate. This relies on a number of SafePASS technologies to identify the locations of passengers, fire/flood simulation outputs and technology that communicates routes to passengers (dynamic signs, mobile app, crew app).

  • The strategy improves the time in which it takes to evacuate by calculating the nearest suitable muster station for all passengers in each area of the ship, directing them to thes muster stations. Any passenger already located in a muster station will remain there. The system calculates the time an evacuation takes with this strategy and intelligently optimises which muster stations each passenger will be sent to.

  • This can reduce mustering times to under 10 minutes, where existing strategies take 20-80 minutes depending on procedure and ship design.

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