Relationship between spontaneous footstep motion and spatial self-organization in pedestrian crowds

2023 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 22K14448
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Early-Career Scientists
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Review Section: Basic Section 25020:Safety engineering-related
• Research Institution: Kyoto Institute of Technology
• Principal Investigator: Tomaru Takenori 京都工芸繊維大学, その他部局等, 特任研究員 (90794149)
• Project Period (FY): 2022-04-01 – 2024-03-31
• Keywords: 群集 / 自己組織化 / 非同期 / 同期 / 歩行者

Outline of Final Research Achievements

In collective phenomena observed in many animals, synchronization of individual activities is often cited as a characteristic of order. However, in pedestrian crowds, the relationship between individual-level temporal behaviors and group-level spatial behaviors remains largely unknown.
In this study, we conducted bidirectional pedestrian flow experiments, and investigated the relationship between foot movements and the generated structure. As a result, the temporal pattern of stepping influenced the spatial pattern of movements. When the timing of their foot motions was constrained, their lateral movements from the direct path to the destination decreased, leading to instability in the generated structures. These results suggests that individuals moving at their own timing contribute the robustness of generated structures.
These findings are expected to contribute to crowd management and the design of autonomously distributed swarm robotics, which are compelled to move asynchronously.

Free Research Field

比較集団行動学

Academic Significance and Societal Importance of the Research Achievements

本研究の成果は、歩行者群集のみならず他の動物の群れ研究においても、相互作用における非同期性の重要性を提起するものである。また、集団行動の従来研究において身体を無視した点の運動として扱われてきた個体の運動を、自身の身体パーツの運動（例えばトリの羽のはばたき）による運動として捉え直すことの重要性も提起するものである。さらに、他分野への波及として非同期で動かざるを得ない自律分散型ロボットナビゲーションへの貢献が期待される。社会的意義としては、従来研究よりも現実に即した設定での歩行者間の相互作用のメカニズムを明らかにしたことで、歩行者交通マネジメントにおいて新たな知見をもたらす。