Integration of agent based modelling in DEVS for utilisation analysis: The morespace project at TU Vienna

Abstract

Diese Dissertation beschäftigt sich mit der Kombination von Discrete Event Simulation und Agent Based Modelling. Der Schwerpunkt liegt hierbei in der Integration des Agentenkonzepts in ein Discrete Event Simulationssystem. Im laufe der letzten Jahre wurde die Möglichkeit agentenbasierte Modelle in DEVS Systemen abzubilden in diversen Veröffentlichungen diskutiert.<br />Die Übersetzbarkeit von ABM in DEVS wurde dabei zu Genüge demonstriert.<br />Beide Methoden verfügen über ihre distinkten Vor- und Nachteile: Das legt nun die Überlegung nahe ein System zu entwickeln, in dem agentenbasierte Element mit DEVS Elementen coexistieren um damit die Vorteile beider Welten je nach Bedarf ausnutzen zu können.<br />

In this dissertation an approach to integrating agent based modelling into a discrete event simulation system is developed and tested in the course of the MoreSpace project done at the Vienna University of Technology. During the last years the feasibility of finding an equivalent discrete event model for any agent based model that conforms to the specification given above has been discussed and shown in several publications. It is obvious that both modelling techniques have their advantages and drawbacks. Discrete Event Simulation is known to be efficient and fast as long as the concept of event driven time steps is able to use its advantage of jumping over time intervals where no changes to the system state occur and only update the system elements of the time points where events are schedules or triggered, but people's behaviour and movement is hard to model in such a system. Therefore it is of great interest to develop a model, where both systems - discrete event and agent based - coexist. As application of this theory the MoreSpace project done for the TU Vienna is introduced: The simulation of the booking management for all courses held at the TU Vienna and the student flow to determine the utilisation and accessibility of lectures and the allocated space.<br />Dealing with the simulation of the whole TU Campus in Vienna as well as the student behaviour it needs the best of both worlds, DEVS and ABM, to cover all characteristics of this system.<br />