The Dynamic Simulation of Pedestrians and Vehicles Makes a Digital Twin City Alive
Tags: Digital Twin Technology, Smart Cities, Digital Twin

The Dynamic Simulation of Pedestrians and Vehicles Makes a Digital Twin City Alive 51WORLD Follow Feb 2 · 5 min read

51WORLD believes that a true digital twin city must be alive with people bustling around and vehicles going back and forth. It is the people and vehicles that vitalize a digital twin city.

Therefore, 51WORLD Earth Clone Institute (ECI) and Dynamic Simulation Institute (DSI) come up with an extraordinary simulation solution, converging the static digital twin scenes with the dynamics of the agents.

It is the autonomous decision-making of the agents, instead of the mechanical movement of the model; it is the deductive result in real-time, instead of acting according to the “script”; it is real-time traffic flow simulation accommodating thousands of people and tens of thousands of vehicles, instead of a simple demo animation.

Microsimulation of a subway station

Traffic flow simulation in an airport

Railway transit, ground transportation, venues, airports, docks, parks…

The pedestrian-vehicle dynamic simulation unleashes infinite imagination.

Bustling pedestrian flow simulation

What is the soul of a city?

There is no doubt that it is the people living in this city. The same is true for a digital twin city.

Therefore, pedestrian flow simulation is one with the greatest potentials as an accurate prediction of crowd behavior is required in simulating stadium evacuation exercises, subway commuting, and traffic efficiency of passing an intersection.

Rush hour simulation

On the other hand, crowd simulation is also a recognized conundrum in the industry.

Now, cooperated with the X Business Unit, 51WORLD DSI, based on the all-element scene (AES), delivers a pedestrian-flow simulation solution of various scenarios by integrating the dynamic simulation technology (DST). It can be used in venues such as schools, shopping malls, airports, stadiums, urban blocks, and underground transportation facilities.

Traditional pedestrian-flow simulation is essentially a timeline animation, in which the virtual figure can only move mechanically according to the planned actions and routes.

However, in an intelligent simulation, people can make real-time decisions according to diverse environments, presenting real dynamics in the digital twin scene.

Pedestrian flow simulation when partial turnstiles break down

At present, the 51WORLD pedestrian-flow simulation system is able to adjust the density and speed of the pedestrians, configure the elevators, escalators, entrances, and exits, and obstacles. It also supports layered display and 3D presentation of real-time statistical results

At the same time, real-time pedestrian flow data can be obtained from 51WORLD’s AI recognition through camera monitoring, which can be used as a reference for parameter configuration in simulation.

In simulating workflow, 51WORLD first builds a digital twin AES including the subway station based on real data. Then, it processes the requirements and various IoT data of cameras and turnstiles into standard parameters, to build a pedestrian model and connect it to the scene.

Pedestrian flow simulation when the exit is closed

Once the environment is constructed, the managers can select different emergency evacuation plans, according to which the system will animate the agents in the AES deduced from corresponding models and generate dynamic pedestrian flow scenes, which are demonstrated in forms like heat maps, holographic scenes, global visual field, and roaming camera.

In the process, one agent can interact with other agents and make decisions accordingly, such as choosing a shorter queue or deciding to wait or leave depending on the line ahead.

This intelligent driving process is based on configurable parameters, which can be adjusted locally or globally according to actual situation, to optimize and iterate the agent models.

Pedestrian flow simulation when an elevator breaks down

Hustling traffic flow simulation

If the pedestrians can be viewed as the principal players of a city traffic on a micro level, vehicle flow is vital in simulating the city traffic from a meso and even a macro perspective.

On the support of dynamic simulation technology and 51Sim-One, 51WORLD’s self-developed autonomous driving simulation and testing platform, 51WORLD provides a set of vehicle traffic flow solutions simulating from macroscopic road networks to microscopic vehicles, satisfying various needs such as traffic design, planning, and management.

Meso and micro traffic flow simulation

We have simulated and evaluated the traffic conditions of 15 KM in the West Third Ring Road in Beijing according to different demands, with the peak number of the vehicles in the scene reaching 2 million.

Pedestrian-vehicle flow at a complex intersection

Microscopic simulation of complicated intersections is a thorny issue in traffic simulation. 51WORLD can simulate conditions such as vehicles turning in different directions, traffic lights response, the interaction between pedestrians, non-motorized vehicles and vehicles, and pedestrians crossing roads.

Simulation of traffic flow at complex intersections

At the same time, the seamless connecting with AES allows the platform to quickly simulate traffic flow in line with actual conditions, supporting the evaluation and verification of planed management schemes.

Simulation of traffic flow in an airport

Employing digital twin technology, 51WORLD designs a set of intelligent dispatching systems for aircraft and working vehicles, which can simulate and evaluate the traffic flow and flight statuses in the airport under different managing strategies.

In the digital twin scene, the system offers real-time micro-simulation for airport operators by importing the regulations and rules such as timetables and avoidance between working vehicles and aircraft.

At the same time, the system can also calculate relevant operating indicators, facilitating the formulation of relevant design and managing plans.