SUMS: Sutherland -- Pedestrian dynamics (or Why you want to punch slow moving people in the back of the head)

This week’s talk:

"Duncan Sutherland is perpetually irritated by annoying pedestrians getting in
 his way. To understand the mathematics behind modelling pedestrian dynamics, 
he consulted google and found the following paper: Burstedde, C. et al. 
”Simulation of pedestrian dynamics using a two-dimensional cellular 
automaton”, Physica A, (2001) 507-525, which he decided to discuss in a SUMS 
talk.

This talk will introduce the basic concepts of cellular automata, and will 
discuss the model of Burstedde et al. A pedestrian is modelled as a particle 
which makes a transition between cells with some probability p_ij. The most 
interesting feature of Burstedde’s model is the concept of a floor field. The 
floor field modifies the probabilty p_ij. A static floor field is used to 
model topological features such as walls and doors, and also features which 
are attractive or repulsive to pedestrians, such as emergency exits or fires. 
A dynamic floor field changes with the pedestrian flow and is used to model 
long range interactions."

Usual time, usual place, unusual speaker. I highly recommend coming.

Event: SUMS Meeting - Pedestrian Dynamics
Speaker: Duncan Sutherland
Location: Carslaw 350
Date/Time: Wednesday, August 26, 1-2pm