Abstract
In this paper, we study the problem of wireless sensor network (WSN) maintenance using mobile entities called mules. The mules are deployed in the area of the WSN in such a way that would minimize the time it takes them to reach a failed sensor and fix it. The mules must constantly optimize their collective deployment to account for occupied mules. The objective is to define the optimal deployment and task allocation strategy for the mules, so that the sensors’ downtime and the mules’ traveling distance are minimized. Our solutions are inspired by research in the field of computational geometry and the design of our algorithms is based on state of the art approximation algorithms for the classical problem of facility location. Our empirical results demonstrate how cooperation enhances the team’s performance, and indicate that a combination of k-Median based deployment with closest-available task allocation provides the best results in terms of minimizing the sensors’ downtime but is inefficient in terms of the mules’ travel distance. A k-Centroid based deployment produces good results in both criteria.
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Notes
- 1.
We use the term mules and agents interchangeably.
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Acknowledgments
The research was been supported by the following sources: Israel Science Foundation grant No. 1055/14 and grant No. 317/15, IBM Corporation, the Israeli Ministry of Economy and Industry, and the Helmsley Charitable Trust through the Agricultural, Biological and Cognitive Robotics Initiative of Ben-Gurion University of the Negev.
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Hermelin, D., Segal, M., Yedidsion, H. (2017). Coordination of Mobile Mules via Facility Location Strategies. In: Demazeau, Y., Davidsson, P., Bajo, J., Vale, Z. (eds) Advances in Practical Applications of Cyber-Physical Multi-Agent Systems: The PAAMS Collection. PAAMS 2017. Lecture Notes in Computer Science(), vol 10349. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-59930-4_9
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