LEMONS: An open-source platform to generate non-circuLar, anthropometry-based pEdestrian shapes and simulate their Mechanical interactiONS in two dimensions

Abstract

To model dense crowds, the usual recourse to oversimplified (circular) pedestrian shapes and contact forces shows limitations. To help modellers overcome these limitations, we propose an open-source numerical tool. It consists of a Python library that generates 2D and 3D pedestrian crowds based on anthropometric data, and a C++ library that computes mechanical contacts with other agents and with obstacles, and evolves the crowd's configuration. Additionally, we provide an online platform with a user-friendly graphical interface for the Python library, and scripts to call the C++ library from Python. The tool enables users to implement their own decisional layer, i.e., to control the agents' choices of desired velocities.