SIMPE: A Simulation Platform for Multi-Player Pursuit-Evasion Problems

The pursuit-evasion problem has been studied extensively in the literature for decades. However, there are currently very limited interactive platforms that can assist a user in simulating different scenarios that may have practical relevance in certain applications. This paper presents SIMPE, an interactive simulation platform for simulating Pursuit-Evasion problems with many pursuers and one evader. This platform allows the user to interactively explore various scenarios of these types of problems by varying not only the parameters of the game but also the strategies that are available to the pursuers and evader. The exploratory nature of SIMPE allows the user to quickly and interactively determine the outcome of a particular complex scenario in a short period of time. Three different strategies that represent cooperating and/or not cooperating pursuers are available as options. In addition to various graphs and performance measures, the platform produces a visual display of the movement of the pursuers and evader which will terminate either by the evader escaping or being captured.