HERMES

The aim of the collaborative project is the improvement of the safety of persons attending major events with the help of an evacuation assistant.

This assistant supports the stakeholders (operators, security service, police, fire brigade) to assess the situation correctly and to assign security personnel or rescue workers to best effect by delivering early congestion warning.

Additionally, possible hazardous situations can be analysed before major events. These situations can be avoided by drawing up optional emergency plans or specific training of the security personnel.

The system of the evacuation assistant will be tested in the multi-function arena in Dusseldorf in 2011.

Innovations and applications:

The coupling of the simulation core to the risk management system as well as people counting by means of automatic image processing makes it possible to obtain  for the first time  simulation results that are based on the current emergency situation.

Based on the information available about the  distribution of people and availability of escape routes, a simulation will be created within the next 15 minutes to forecast the movement of all persons present. This will be done faster than in real time and in intervals of one minute, which means that  the simulation results can be immediately used for crowd control.

The action force on the spot will receive the required up-to-date information via a communication module.

To optimize the models used for pedestrian dynamics, extensive field studies and laboratory experiments will be conducted, allowing the validation of construction law requirements.

Additionally, the project will be complementedd by an analysis of user requirements and an accompanying socio-economic study.