PedSim

Pedestrian Simulation in Grasshopper

V0.10

Quick Start Guide

Peng Wang
2019-03-17
pengwang.summer@gmail.com

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CONTENTS
1. Nomenclature......................................................................................................................................................... 3
2. Basic Function in a Nut Shell................................................................................................................................... 4
3. Components............................................................................................................................................................ 5
4. General Modeling Method......................................................................................................................................6

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1. NOMENCLATURE
Term Meaning
PedSim Name of the software, short for Pedestrian Simulation.
Map The simulation model generated from a valid Grasshopper definition using PedSim.
Specifically, it usually refers to the running instance of the model.
Person An agent representing pedestrian in PedSim.
Person Template The people in a Map are defined by Person Templates. A Person Template must have a
Start Gate, a Destination Gate and some Targets. Other properties can also be
controlled.
Gate An object on the Map. It can generate People and/or absorb People.
Starting Gate Gate releasing People at a certain rate and probability when the Map’s population is
not reached.
Destination Gate Every Person has a Destination Gate. It accepts People at certain rate. When a Person
gets close to its Destination Gate, it exits the map and disappears.
Target People may visit Targets (or Middle Targets) on their way to the Destination Gate. A
Target has a Program. A Target can have one or more access points.
Goal Goal is a general term for either Gate or Target.
Program/Interest Program is a property of Target. Targets are categorized by Programs. A Person is
interested in some Programs (a Program is called an Interest when we refer to a
Person).
Obstacle An obstacle is a closed polyline. People will go around obstacles when planning their
route.
Vision A Person uses Vision to identify Targets on the Map (it does not use vision to navigate
or interact with other People). There are more than one types of Vision in PedSim.
Route A Route is a polyline. Person finds a Route to a Goal and moves along it. It is part of the
route graph.
Route graph The route graph is automatically generated by PedSim from the obstacles by offsetting
the polygons outwards and connecting the corner points. People search the graph for
their route to the destination gate. When talking about vertices and edges in PedSim,
we generally refer to the vertices and edges of the route graph.

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2. BASIC FUNCTION IN A NUT SHELL
PedSim is a Grasshopper plug-in that runs simplified pedestrian simulation in Rhino modeling space in real time.
It can be integrated in your Rhino workflow for master plan, public space, commercial and other architectural
projects, accelerating design iteration and creating new opportunities for design automation.

The agents in PedSim are called People (Person). A Person travels form a Starting Gate to a Destination Gate,
avoiding obstacles and other people. If it sees1 any interesting2 Targets it will change its Route and go to that
Target. After visiting the Target, the Person will re-route to its Destination Gate.

People in PedSim are based on a particle model. This implies the following:

 People interact with each other and with obstacles via forces and follow basic dynamics rules (in terms
of its mass, acceleration, speed, position, etc.).
 A person has a circular geometry.
 The simulation runs frame by frame. At each frame a calculation process runs for all people and
determine their movements.
At a typical frame, there are four types of forces in action:

 Target force
 Obstacle repulsion
 Person repulsion
 Anticipatory collision avoidance force

Currently PedSim works in a two dimensional space. Please make sure all the geometry used for PedSim is in XY
plane.

1
Meaning using Vision
2
Meaning that the Target’s Program matches one of the Person’s interests

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3. COMPONENTS

Component Name Stage Function Essential for

simulation
Program Pre-simulation Defines one Program/Interest Essential
Gate Pre-simulation Defines and displays one or multiple Gates Essential
Target Pre-simulation Defines and displays one or multiple Essential
Targets
PersonTemplate Pre-simulation Defines and displays one or multiple Essential
Person Templates. (It has a helpful
preview.)
FanShapedVision Pre-simulation Gives Person Template Fan-shaped Vision Choose one vision
PanoramaVision Pre-simulation Gives Person Template Panorama Vision Choose one vision
PedSimulationSystem Engine Works with Grasshopper Timer; runs the Essential
simulation and outputs data of the Map
and People.
SystemSettings Engine Optional input for PedSimulationSystem Optional
that controls some simulation parameters
DeconstructPerson Post-simulation Extracts Person’s data Optional
DeconstructPersonRecord Post-simulation Extracts Person’s record data Optional
DrawPerson Post-simulation Displays People in the viewports Optional
GridPersonCounter Post-simulation Works with Grasshopper Grids and counts Optional
people on the Map
GridSpeedCounter Post-simulation Works with Grasshopper Grids and counts Optional
the average speed in a grid cell over a
period of time

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4. GENERAL MODELING METHOD
The following chart shows a standard definition structure for every PedSim simulation. Your definition should
follow this pattern. As PedSim evolves, this pattern may change.

Please take a look at the examples provided with the program. You can always build your own definition by
modifying these examples.

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