Agent based simulation, 4 layouts, 2,000 runs
Simulation study poster example
A simulation study poster must say what the model assumes as clearly as what it found. This A0 landscape example runs an agent based evacuation model of a 1,200 seat hall under four exit layouts, 500 runs each. Adding a fourth exit at the rear cuts mean clearance from 212 to 168 seconds, 21% faster, and the 95th percentile from 251 to 192. Four model limits sit right beside that headline.
The whole board
The poster at full size, exactly as it prints. Every number, citation and caption on it was written for this example, so the layout is being judged on real content.
Block by block
What each block on the board is for, in the order a reader walks it.
- Title band and two authors
- The title asks which exit layout empties the hall fastest and gives the runs. Two authors from the fictional Brackenholt Institute of Technology.
- Abstract
- The run count, the mean clearance for layouts A and D, the 21% cut and the fall in the 95th percentile.
- Methods
- Five entries: the behaviour model, the venue, the four layouts, how runs varied, and how clearance was measured.
- Key number and model limits
- The stat block gives 21% faster with layout D. The four point checked list holds the model limits, each starting with the word Limit.
- Hero figure
- Four lines show mean agents still inside against seconds since the alarm, from 1,200 at 0 s, one line per layout.
- Clearance time by layout
- The four row table from the row is written as a section, since this layout has no table block, with mean and 95th percentile per layout, the savings and three short citations.
What makes this board work
The figure is the result
The wide hero block gives the four curves room to separate. At 150 s, 330 agents are still inside under layout A against 105 under D, which shows the gain before a reader finds the table.
The tail gets equal billing
Means alone flatter a safety case. Every layout carries its 95th percentile, and the abstract says the tail fell 59 s, from 251 to 192, more than the 44 s fall in the mean.
Limits sit beside the headline
The four limits, one behaviour model, no smoke, borrowed walking speeds and a set 4% with limited mobility, sit directly under the 21% stat, where a reader cannot miss them.
Questions people ask
What must a simulation poster state about the model?
The kind of model, the behaviour rules, the inputs that vary between runs, the number of runs and what is measured. This board gives each its own method entry. Readers cannot rerun your model from a poster, so they judge it by whether the assumptions are on the board and sensible.
Should a simulation poster report percentiles as well as means?
Yes, when the decision rests on the worst cases. An evacuation is judged on the slowest runs, so this board gives the 95th percentile for every layout beside the mean. Across 500 runs a layout, the tail moved 59 s while the mean moved 44 s.
How many runs should a simulation study report?
Enough that the estimates stop moving, and say how many you ran. This model ran 500 per layout, 2,000 in all, each with new walking speeds, start delays and seat occupancy. Report the run count in the methods, the abstract and the figure source, as here, so readers can weigh it.
Why is this board not on a dark layout?
The row first named a dark showcase design, and an earlier board on a dark showcase design rendered its chart tick labels too close in colour to the figure card, so the axes read as blank. A light landscape layout with a full width line figure keeps every axis label legible, and that figure is what this study turns on.
Where should model limits go on a poster?
Next to the headline, not under the references. This board uses its four point checked list for limits and places it under the stat block. A limit in the reading path changes how the 21% is read; the same limit in small type at the foot of the board changes nothing.
Why plot agents remaining rather than clearance times?
Clearance time is one number per run; agents remaining shows the whole evacuation. The four lines start together at 1,200 and separate within the first 50 seconds, which tells a reader the gain comes from faster flow throughout, not a quicker final straggler. The table of clearance times then sits below the figure.
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Written and checked by the OneCraft team. Last checked .