Mobile Emulab: A Robotic Wireless and Sensor Network Testbed

Abstract— Simulation has been the dominant research methodology in wireless and sensor networking. When mobility is added, real-world experimentation is especially rare. However, it is becoming clear that simulation models do not sufficiently capture radio and sensor irregularity in a complex, real-world environment, especially indoors. Unfortunately, the high labor and equipment costs of truly mobile experimental infrastructure present high barriers to such experimentation. We describe our experience in creating a testbed to lower those barriers. We have extended the Emulab network testbed software to provide the first remotely-accessible mobile wireless and sensor testbed. Robots carry motes and single board computers through a fixed indoor field of sensor-equipped motes, all running the user’s selected software. In real-time, interactively or driven by a script, remote users can position the robots, control all the computers and network interfaces, run arbitrary programs, an...

• Type: Conference
• Year: 2006
• Where: INFOCOM
• Authors: David Johnson, Tim Stack, Russ Fish, Daniel Montrallo Flickinger, Leigh Stoller, Robert Ricci, Jay Lepreau
• Keywords: Communications, INFOCOM 2006, Network Testbed Software, Robots Carry Motes, Testbed