Aimsun Next Tutorials Guide
New to Aimsun Next mobility modeling software? Our video tutorials and exercises will help you get started and learn the fundamentals of building and simulating a model.
After you’ve installed Aimsun Next, watch the Tutorials playlist on the Aimsun YouTube channel – the videos are designed to go hand-in-hand with the written tutorials and practical exercises that you can access via the Welcome page of our software.
Video tutorials
The YouTube playlist follows the order of the course and is divided into themed chapters:
- Aimsun Next Tutorial – Introduction (1 min) – for an overview of the course structure
- Aimsun Next Tutorial – Getting Started (5 mins) for a tour of the welcome page and user interface
1. Building a Model
Aimsun Next Tutorials 1.1 – 1.9 (45 mins)
Build a model from scratch with all the data needed to run a simulation.
Topics
The goal of these model-building exercises is to start from zero and create a complete traffic-network model with all the data you need to run a microscopic simulation.
• Base a model on a template and a background image.
• Build network elements including sections, nodes, lines, detectors, variable message signs (VMS), and public transport stops.
• Define the following key elements: a control plan for traffic lights, public transport lines and timetables, reserved lanes for buses, a traffic state, centroids, OD matrices, and traffic demand.
• Create a scenario and an experiment to use to run the simulation.
• Base a model on a template and a background image.
• Build network elements including sections, nodes, lines, detectors, variable message signs (VMS), and public transport stops.
• Define the following key elements: a control plan for traffic lights, public transport lines and timetables, reserved lanes for buses, a traffic state, centroids, OD matrices, and traffic demand.
• Create a scenario and an experiment to use to run the simulation.
2. Viewing Microsimulation Outputs
Aimsun Next Tutorial 2 (33 mins)
Discover how to get immediate visual results in Aimsun Next.
Topics
• Obtain different visual simulation outputs and view statistics.
• View data from a single vehicle while running a microscopic simulation.
• Use the Time Series Viewer to view various data during a simulation.
• Define view styles and view modes to present results in the main 2D view using colors, shapes, and labels.
• Create a print layout to present your data and compare data from different simulations.
The experiments in these exercises use models from the microscopic simulator. If you have a license for the Pro Meso edition of Aimsun Next instead, you should create the experiments as described but use the mesoscopic simulator rather than the microscopic option.
• View data from a single vehicle while running a microscopic simulation.
• Use the Time Series Viewer to view various data during a simulation.
• Define view styles and view modes to present results in the main 2D view using colors, shapes, and labels.
• Create a print layout to present your data and compare data from different simulations.
The experiments in these exercises use models from the microscopic simulator. If you have a license for the Pro Meso edition of Aimsun Next instead, you should create the experiments as described but use the mesoscopic simulator rather than the microscopic option.
3. Managing Traffic
Aimsun Next Tutorials 3.1 – 3.3 (40 mins)
Learn how to work with traffic-management policies.
Topics
• Create policies for changing the destinations of vehicles in response to network conditions and events.
• Define strategies and policies to divert traffic, close turns, and reduce congestion. These strategies will involve police actions, VMS signs, traffic control plans, and conditional triggers.
• Create periodic incidents in a road section.
• We’ll use the example of a football match in Barcelona, where departing spectators impact traffic between 20:00 and 21:00h. Our task is to observe if all vehicles can leave in a timely manner and how we can mitigate their impact on traffic in the network.
• Define strategies and policies to divert traffic, close turns, and reduce congestion. These strategies will involve police actions, VMS signs, traffic control plans, and conditional triggers.
• Create periodic incidents in a road section.
• We’ll use the example of a football match in Barcelona, where departing spectators impact traffic between 20:00 and 21:00h. Our task is to observe if all vehicles can leave in a timely manner and how we can mitigate their impact on traffic in the network.
4. Modeling Traffic Demand
Aimsun Next Tutorial 4 (29 mins)
Practice using transport-planning and demand-modeling tools.
Topics
• Prepare and execute a generation/attraction experiment to create GA vectors using land-use and travel-behavior data.
• Run a trip distribution and a modal-split experiment to create OD matrices and assign the resultant demand to the traffic network.
• Use a four-step-model experiment to link these processes together.
• Run a trip distribution and a modal-split experiment to create OD matrices and assign the resultant demand to the traffic network.
• Use a four-step-model experiment to link these processes together.
5. Modeling with Macroscopic Tools
Aimsun Next Tutorial 5 (15 mins)
Practice using macroscopic simulation features for modeling traffic.
Topics
• Look at traffic assignment, OD-matrix adjustment, subnetworks, and how to balance OD matrices.
• Assign an OD matrix to a network to see how the flow distribution is assigned and how results are obtained.
• Adjust the OD matrix using data from detectors.
• Define a subnetwork and obtain its traversal OD matrix.
• Balance an OD matrix using the Furness method.
• Assign an OD matrix to a network to see how the flow distribution is assigned and how results are obtained.
• Adjust the OD matrix using data from detectors.
• Define a subnetwork and obtain its traversal OD matrix.
• Balance an OD matrix using the Furness method.
6. Simulating Pedestrians
Aimsun Next Tutorial 6 (24 mins)
Run a microscopic simulation that contains embedded pedestrians.
Topics
• Create a pedestrian area with all the data required to run a microsimulation that includes embedded pedestrians.
• Define an area that pedestrians can walk through and areas where there is interaction between vehicles and pedestrians.
• Define pedestrian centroids, pedestrian OD matrices, create traffic demand, and run a simulation scenario to see the impact of pedestrians on traffic.
• Define an area that pedestrians can walk through and areas where there is interaction between vehicles and pedestrians.
• Define pedestrian centroids, pedestrian OD matrices, create traffic demand, and run a simulation scenario to see the impact of pedestrians on traffic.
Coming in 2021
7. Integrating Macro, Meso, Micro, and Hybrid Simulations
Coming in 2021
Topics
• Using a Static Assignment to Verify Real and Simulated Data
• Defining a Subnetwork Study Area and Running a Static Traversal
• Checking Detector Coverage
• Extending the OD Matrices Based on Traffic Measurements
• Adjusting the Subnetwork OD Matrices
• Creating a Profiled Demand with a Static OD Departure Adjustment
• Running a Dynamic User Equilibrium (DUE) Experiment
• Running a Microscopic Stochastic Route Choice (SRC) Scenario
• Running a Meso-micro Hybrid SRC Scenario
• Running a Macro-meso Hybrid Simulation
• Defining a Subnetwork Study Area and Running a Static Traversal
• Checking Detector Coverage
• Extending the OD Matrices Based on Traffic Measurements
• Adjusting the Subnetwork OD Matrices
• Creating a Profiled Demand with a Static OD Departure Adjustment
• Running a Dynamic User Equilibrium (DUE) Experiment
• Running a Microscopic Stochastic Route Choice (SRC) Scenario
• Running a Meso-micro Hybrid SRC Scenario
• Running a Macro-meso Hybrid Simulation
9. Scenario Management
Coming in 2021
Topics
• Scenario Data Comparison
• Network Attributes Override
• Scenario Revision
• Geometry Configuration
• Network Attributes Override
• Scenario Revision
• Geometry Configuration
Written tutorials and exercises
When you start Aimsun Next, you can access our written tutorials from the Tutorials tab in the Welcome window, located to the right of the tabs for Projects and Aimsun News.
To start a tutorial:
- Click the Tutorials tab.
- Select a topic from the Tutorial drop-down list.
- Click Documentation to open the online Help file where you will find all the related exercises to complete.
- Return to Aimsun Next and click Initial Network to open a new model in which you can complete the exercises.
- Choose a folder where you would like to store your project. This will create the project folder structure and open an ANG file (the Aimsun Next main project file) where you can save your work.
If you want to skip the exercise(s) but view the final expected results and completed model, click Finished Network and open the completed network model.
For more in-depth or advanced training, check our calendar of training courses.
If you have any questions, contact us at info@aimsun.com