Incorporating a model of human panic behavior for robotic-based emergency evacuation

Evacuating a building in an emergency situation can be very confusing and dangerous. Exit signs are static and thus have no ability to convey information about congestion or danger between the sign and the actual exit door. Emergency personnel may arrive too late to assist in an evacuation. Robots, however, can be stored inside of buildings and can be used to guide evacuees to the best available exit. To enable this process, evacuation robots must have an understanding of how people react in emergency situations. By incorporating a model of human panic behavior, these robots can effectively guide crowds of people to zones of safety. In this paper, we discuss an initial design of these robots and their behaviors. Preliminary simulation results show that a significantly larger proportion of people are evacuated with robot assistance than without.