Mesoscopic Transition Zone
The Mesoscopic Transition Zone (MTZ) enables you to represent areas of a model that are immaterial to your study, and which do not require detailed simulation, analysis, or the visualisation of Entities. In a sense, an MTZ enables you to 'abstract' an area of your model. Inside an MTZ, Entities are not visible and they are navigated mesoscopically, rather than with the usual microscopic accuracy of a LEGION simulation.
Some of the situations and areas where using an MTZ might benefit your project:
- Lifts - Pedestrian behaviour inside lifts is often irrelevant to a study and does not affect overall pedestrian flow. An MTZ can be used to represent a lift and Entities will be simulated mesoscopically until they alight.
- Shops - Much like lifts, shops (and cafés, etc.) may be intermediate destinations within which the behaviour of Entities is immaterial to your study.
- Holding areas - Many models contain areas where pedestrians are held for a certain period of time (outside stations during rush hour, for example); there may also be zones in which pedestrian behaviour is of no particular interest to your study (like communal areas in a sports stadium).
- 'Internal' transit services - MTZs can be used to model transport services within models. For example, you may wish to transfer Entities between airport terminals without simulating their behaviour en route in microscopic detail.
Note: When drawing an MTZ,
you will be asked 'Does this MTZ have any entrance/exit areas?' This question
refers to whether or not the zone will contain a volume of space which Entities
will enter and exit, or whether the zone will be comprised of single segments
which Entities simply cross. Answering yes or no changes how you draw the
object. If you answer 'yes', you will draw an area (or areas if the exit area
is in a different location to the entrance area); if you answer 'no', you will
simply draw segments. Segments are useful when the geometry you wish to model
mesoscopically is difficult to draw or lays beyond the boundaries of your model
(for example, a string of complex train carriages or a holding area outside
your area of interest).