A collision-free self-deployment of mobile robotic sensors for three-dimensional distributed blanket coverage control

Abstract

This paper provides a distributed algorithm for mobile robotic sensors to have a self-deployment in a three-dimensional area to reach the complete blanket coverage. The area with obstacles is arbitrary and unknown. Mobile sensors have limited sensing ranges and communication range. They move in order through a grid pattern to reach a complete coverage. The algorithm sets a reference point. Then the furthest robot moves first to the most distant neighbor in each step without collisions through a grid pattern. Finally, the entire area is covered by a sensor network with the fewest robots and steps. It is proved that the algorithm can converge with probability one. The effectiveness and scalability of the algorithm are shown in simulations of different algorithms in different sizes of areas.