Who Let the Guards Out: Visual Support for Patrolling Games

Area of Science:

• Computer Science
• Operations Research
• Cybersecurity

Background:

• Effective security patrol management is vital for safety in diverse environments like galleries, airports, and factories.
• Patrolling games model the interactions between patrols and adversaries in graph-based environments.
• Algorithm designers struggle with analyzing complex graph layouts and temporal dependencies in these games.

Purpose of the Study:

• To present a novel visualization tool for the design and analysis of patrolling game algorithms.
• To provide an intuitive and interactive interface for exploring patrol routes, probabilities, and simulation outcomes.
• To assist experts in evaluating algorithm success rates and proposing improvements.

Main Methods:

• Development of a novel visualization tool with interactive features.
• Simulation of patrolling game scenarios on graph-based environment models.
• Conducting three case studies in collaboration with patrolling game design experts.

Main Results:

• The tool facilitates detailed exploration of patrol routes and their associated probabilities.
• It enables effective simulation of patrol behaviors and adversary interactions.
• Case studies demonstrated the tool's utility in evaluating and refining security patrol strategies.

Conclusions:

• The developed tool significantly aids designers in understanding and optimizing patrolling game algorithms.
• Interactive visualization is crucial for managing complexity in security patrol management.
• The tool offers a practical solution for enhancing the effectiveness of security patrols.