A double‐layer crowd evacuation simulation method based on deep reinforcement learning

Abstract Existing crowd evacuation simulation methods commonly face challenges of low efficiency in path planning and insufficient realism in pedestrian movement during the evacuation process. In this study, we propose a novel crowd evacuation path planning approach based on the learning curve–deep deterministic policy gradient (LC‐DDPG) algorithm. The algorithm incorporates dynamic experience pool and a priority experience sampling strategy, enhancing convergence speed and achieving higher average rewards, thus efficiently enabling global path planning. Building upon this foundation, we introduce a double‐layer method for crowd evacuation using deep reinforcement learning. Specifically, within each group, individuals are categorized into leaders and followers. At the top layer, we employ the LC‐DDPG algorithm to perform global path planning for the leaders. Simultaneously, at the bottom layer, an enhanced social force model guides the followers to avoid obstacles and follow the leaders during evacuation. We implemented a crowd evacuation simulation platform. Experimental results show that our proposed method has high path planning efficiency and can generate more realistic pedestrian trajectories in different scenarios and crowd sizes.