Experimental study on movement characteristics of pedestrians with different speeds

Abstract

Crowd evacuation efficiency is related to the gait parameters of individuals. In this study, the gait parameters of individuals with different speeds, including step length, plantar pressure, and offset of barycenter, were recorded using a pressure distribution measurement treadmill. The gait characteristics of pedestrians with different motion states were analyzed. A physical model was built to describe the individual movement. The results showed that the critical speed for individual motion posture from walking to running was 1.4 m s−1, and the gait characteristics of a pedestrian differed significantly between the two motion postures. The step length increment began to decrease rapidly and the offset of the barycenter (front and rear position) began to increase when the speed was more than 1.4 m s−1, and the movement condition of an individual was changed from walking to running at this speed. The plantar pressure increased significantly when the speed of an individual was between 1.4 m s−1 and the speed at which the double support phase disappeared. These findings revealed the variation rules of the movement characteristics of individuals with different speeds, such as the step length, the plantar pressure, and the offset of the barycenter. The step length and the plantar pressure were quantified for the physical model, which could provide a reference for the further research of crowd simulation and the instability risk of individuals.