A literature review of contacting force measurement methods for pedestrian crowds

Abstract

This article reviewed state-of-the-art achievements in pedestrian contacting force measurement as a hotspot survey closer to ground truth supporting pedestrian dynamics in mass-gathering environments. It analyzed different forces acting on pedestrian bodies, including normal external forces, self-driven forces, abnormal external forces, and pedestrian motion constraint forces from other obstacles, besides the crowding posture on the force distribution. This review covered main methodologies: sophisticated pressure sensors, modern technology for pedestrian motion-capturing systems, and advanced numerical simulations. Further, this paper summarized key findings from recent studies related to pedestrian contacting or crowding forces. It was found that despite significant advances, study achievements are mainly limited to different crowding postures, such as experiments regarding controlled environments in flat areas, indoor corridors, staircases, and competitive evacuation drills. Lack of sufficient sensor-based body measurements and contact force measurements on slop roads was analyzed. Finally, future research outlook was outlined, including planned experiments in highly crowded environments.

Keywords

• Pedestrian contact force
• Crowd dynamics
• Pressure measurement sensor
• Motion capture system
• Slope micro-road network
• Numerical simulation