Agent Based Modelling in Practical Engineering Applications

建议的描述直接来自于帖子广告；参见：为什么人们在过桥时会这样移动？为什么他们疏散(例如，在火灾或地震情况下)建筑物时产生特定的外流模式？为什么当他们只是并排或紧随其后时，他们就会步调一致或不同步？为什么踩踏(或人群挤压)悲剧仍在发生，最后，行人之间的行为在多大程度上类似于汽车司机之间的行为？基于代理或人群动力学的模拟试图捕捉所有上述的潜在机制，但并不总是准确的。有许多验证研究试图让这种模拟更真实，但这些研究往往指的是相当有限的场景，对我们的日常生活几乎没有影响。目前的PHD项目的目标是：i)使用最新的数值(例如，机器学习)技术来优化当前基于代理的模拟方法，以建立个体在人群中移动时收到的交互组件。作为起点，验证将在真实世界的人群场景中进行，比如人们过桥的场景。Ii)将优化后的工具(S)与标准设计软件相结合，再现更逼真的人群运动和个人之间的互动。目前实施的结构设计方法有多好，以及这种混合操作出现了哪些差异，是新的研究问题目标。Iii)将上述基于代理的模拟方法扩展到交通路线(相扑中的微观模拟模型)和设计更高效的交通基础设施或更符合未来趋势(如自动驾驶)的主题。这项研究将是计算学院(Evangelos Pournaras博士)和土木工程学院(Nikolaos Nikitas博士)的联合工作，将有一个混合的数值和物理测试方面。Oasys MassMotion等现成软件将用于这项研究，并将使用基于代理的模拟和设计软件与实践工程师进行密切互动。

The proposed description is straight deriving from the post advertisement; see: Why people move the way they do when crossing a bridge? Why they evacuate (e.g., in a fire or earthquake scenario) buildings creating certain outflow patterns? Why they get in step or out of step when just walking side by side or the one behind the other? Why stampede (or crowd crush) tragedies still happen and finally how much behaviour between pedestrians approaches behaviour between car drivers? Agent based, or crowd dynamics, simulations try to capture the underlying mechanisms of all the above, yet not always accurately. There are a number of validation studies towards trying to make such simulations more realistic but these tend to refer to quite limited scenarios with little impact to our everyday lives. The current PhD project would aim to: i) Optimise current agent based simulation approaches using latest numerical (e.g., machine learning) techniques for establishing the interaction component the individual receives when moving inside a crowd. As a starting point, validation would take place in real-world crowd scenarios, such of this of people crossing a bridge. ii) Blend the optimised tool(s) reproducing more realistic crowd motion and interactions between individuals, with standard design software. How good are the structural design approaches currently practiced, and what differences emerge from this blending operation are the novel research question targets. iii) Expand the above agent based simulation approaches to topics like traffic routing (micro-simulation models in SUMO) and designing for more efficient transport infrastructure or more compatible with future trends like that of autonomous driving. The research would be a joint effort between the School of Computing (Dr Evangelos Pournaras) and the School of Civil Engineering (Dr Nikolaos Nikitas) and would have a hybrid numerical and physical testing aspect. Off-the-shelve software like Oasys MassMotion would be used in this research and there will be close interaction with practicing engineers using agent based simulations and design software.