Modeling and simulation of multiple personal mobility vehicles in pedestrian flows using personal space

摘要

Personal mobility vehicles (PMVs), such as an inverted-pendulum vehicle, have been attracting attention as next-generation vehicles for individual use. However, when PMVs travel in pedestrian flows, it is necessary to consider the safety and comfort of pedestrians. This paper investigated a simulation model considering the interaction between multiple PMVs and pedestrians, and analyzed the effects of PMVs in pedestrian flows using the concept of personal space. Furthermore, we proposed an assistance system for PMVs in order to ensure comfort for pedestrians in the presence of PMVs. The simulation results revealed that the avoidance angle and the velocity of PMVs significantly affected the invasion of pedestrians' PSs, and the effectiveness of the assistance system was clearly confirmed.