Simulated Disaster Scenario: A Multi-Agent Simulation

Friday, October 28, 2011
Hall 1-2 (San Jose Convention Center)
Jesse Navas, Jr. , Computer Science, California State University, Dominguez Hills, Carson, CA
Boian Kolev , Computer Science, California State University, Dominguez Hills, Carson, CA
Antonia Boadi, PhD , Computer Science, California State University, Dominguez Hills, Carson, CA
We propose to create a multi-agent based simulation of an assault on the Home Depot Center in Carson, CA.  The Home Depot Center consists of a professional soccer and tennis stadium, and is home to several Major League Soccer (MLS) teams and host to a variety of different venues.  The simulation will be event-driven with a specific man-made disaster.  Based on the specific scenario of the attack, the simulation will show how patrons in the facility will react to the situation as well as illustrate the overall evacuation scheme.  It will also showcase reaction times of local and federal authorities and emergency personnel based off of real-time and nearby sites.  Using the Pythagoras agent based modeling (ABM) software, the simulation will integrate actual terrain of the Home Depot Center using both Google Maps and public records.  Individual vignettes will be run hundreds of times and will be debugged until we achieve an accurate result that is deemed presentable and precise.  A successful simulation will depend on dozens of different factors that we will incorporate.  At the conclusion of this research, it is the goal of the research team to be able to provide consistent and accurate results to local and federal authorities in an effort to promote safety and strengthen response times.  This project is supported by a grant from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.