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Mobile Sensor Network Deployment using Potential Fields: A Distributed, Scalable Solution to the Area Coverage Problem

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Distributed Autonomous Robotic Systems 5

Abstract

This paper considers the problem of deploying a mobile sensor network in an unknown environment. A mobile sensor network is composed of a distributed collection of nodes, each of which has sensing, computation, communication and locomotion capabilities. Such networks are capable of self-deployment; i.e., starting from some compact initial configuration, the nodes in the network can spread out such that the area ‘covered’ by the network is maximized. In this paper, we present a potential-field-based approach to deployment. The fields are constructed such that each node is repelled by both obstacles and by other nodes, thereby forcing the network to spread itself throughout the environment. The approach is both distributed and scalable.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Robotics Research Laboratories, Department of Computer Science, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, 90089-0781, USA

    Andrew Howard, Maja J. Matarić & Gaurav S. Sukhatme

Authors
  1. Andrew Howard
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  2. Maja J. Matarić
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  3. Gaurav S. Sukhatme
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Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Advanced Engineering Center, RIKEN (The Institute of Physical and Chemical Research), 2-1 Hirosawa, 351-0198, Wako-shi, Saitama, Japan

    Hajime Asama (Head of Instrumentation Project Promotion Division) (Head of Instrumentation Project Promotion Division)

  2. Department of Precision Machinery Engineering, The Unviersity of Tokyo, 7-3-1 Hongo, 113-8656, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo, Japan

    Tamio Arai (Professor) (Professor)

  3. Department of Micro System Engineering, Nagoya University, 464-8603, Furo-cho, Chikusa-ku, Nagoya, Japan

    Toshio Fukuda (Professor) (Professor)

  4. Department of Intelligent Systems Graduate School of Information and Electrical Engineering, Kyushu University, 6-10-1 Hakozaki, 812-8581, Higaschi-ku, Fukuoka, Japan

    Tsutomu Hasegawa (Professor) (Professor)

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© 2002 Springer-Verlag Tokyo

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Howard, A., Matarić, M.J., Sukhatme, G.S. (2002). Mobile Sensor Network Deployment using Potential Fields: A Distributed, Scalable Solution to the Area Coverage Problem. In: Asama, H., Arai, T., Fukuda, T., Hasegawa, T. (eds) Distributed Autonomous Robotic Systems 5. Springer, Tokyo. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-4-431-65941-9_30

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-4-431-65941-9_30

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Tokyo

  • Print ISBN: 978-4-431-65943-3

  • Online ISBN: 978-4-431-65941-9

  • eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive

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