Microscopic Traffic Simulation with Intelligent Agents

The subject of microscopic traffic simulation has gained increasing significance in recent years. It enables the testing of traffic scenarios in the laboratory and the evaluation of changes in the infrastructure prior to their physical realization, which saves time and cost. Additionally, agents play an important role in artificial intelligence and are emerging in other fields of science as well, including microscopic simulation of traffic networks. Using agents, it is possible to simulate different driver characteristics and hence it enables a realistic simulation of human driving behaviour. In this book a suitable architecture for a microscopic traffic simulation with intelligent agents is developed and the necessary simulation parameters and components are discussed. Simulation parameters are a very important part of the simulation, since they are the factors that influence vehicle drivers. Fuzzy logic is used to model these parameters to assure a human-like flow of information and to enable human reasoning. On this basis, a conceptual architecture that represents the interrelation between the single simulation components is developed.