An Incremental Self-Deployment Algorithm for Mobile Sensor Networks

This paper describes an incremental deployment algorithm for mobile sensor networks. A mobile sensor network is a distributed collection of nodes, each of which has sensing, computation, communication and locomotion capabilities. The algorithm deploys nodes one-at-atime into an unknown environment, with each node making use of information gathered by previously deployed nodes to determine its target location. The algorithm is designed to maximize network `coverage' whilst simultaneously ensuring that nodes retain line-of-sight with one another (this latter constraint arises from the need to localize the nodes; in our previous work on mesh-based localization [12, 13] we have shown how nodes can localize themselves in a completely unknown environment by using other nodes as landmarks). This paper describes the incremental deployment algorithm and presents the results of an extensive series of simulation experiments. These experiments serve to both validate the algorithm and illumin...

• Type: Journal
• Year: 2002
• Where: AROBOTS
• Authors: Andrew Howard, Maja J. Mataric, Gaurav S. Sukhatme
• Keywords: AROBOTS 2002, Incremental Deployment Algorithm, Mobile Sensor Network, Unknown Environment