Multi-Agent Deployment for Visibility Coverage in Polygonal Environments with Holes

This article presents a distributed algorithm for a group of robotic agents with omnidirectional vision to deploy into nonconvex polygonal environments with holes. Agents begin deployment from a common point, possess no prior knowledge of the environment, and operate only under line-of-sight sensing and communication. The objective of the deployment is for the agents to achieve full visibility coverage of the environment while maintaining line-of-sight connectivity with each other. This is achieved by incrementally partitioning the environment into distinct regions, each completely visible from some agent. Proofs are given of (i) convergence, (ii) upper bounds on the time and number of agents required, and (iii) bounds on the memory and communication complexity. Simulation results and description of robust extensions are also included

Asynchronous distributed searchlight scheduling

Abstract — This paper develops and compares two asynchronous distributed scheduling algorithms for multiple controlled searchlights in nonconvex polygonal environments. A searchlight is a ray emitted by source location that (i) cannot penetrate the boundary of the environment and (ii) undergoes controlled slewing about its source location. Evaders move inside the environment along continuous trajectories and are detected precisely when they are on the searchlight ray at some time instant. The objective is for the searchlights to detect any evader in finite time and to do so using only local sensing and limited communication among them. The first algorithm we develop, called the Distributed One Way Sweep Strategy (DOWSS), is a distributed version of an algorithm described originally in 1990 by Sugihara et al [1]; this algorithm may be slow in “sweeping ” the environment because only one searchlight slews at a time. Second we develop an algorithm, called the Parallel Tree Sweep Strategy (PTSS), in which searchlights sweep concurrently under the assumption that they are placed in appropriate locations; for this algorithm we establish linear completion time. I

To appear at CDC 2007 New Orleans, LA Asynchronous Distributed Searchlight Scheduling

Abstract — This paper develops and compares two asynchronous distributed scheduling algorithms for multiple controlled searchlights in nonconvex polygonal environments. A searchlight is a ray emitted by source location that (i) cannot penetrate the boundary of the environment and (ii) undergoes controlled slewing about its source location. Evaders move inside the environment along continuous trajectories and are detected precisely when they are on the searchlight ray at some time instant. The objective is for the searchlights to detect any evader in finite time and to do so using only local sensing and limited communication among them. The first algorithm we develop, called the Distributed One Way Sweep Strategy (DOWSS), is a distributed version of an algorithm described originally in 1990 by Sugihara et al [1]; this algorithm may be slow in “sweeping ” the environment because only one searchlight slews at a time. Second, we develop a second algorithm, called the Parallel Tree Sweep Strategy (PTSS), in which searchlights sweep concurrently under the assumption that they are placed in appropriate locations; for this algorithm we establish linear completion time. I