Connectivity maintenance with application to target search

ABSTRACT Connectivity maintenance with application to target search considering the failure of unmanned vehicles is proposed. The unmanned vehicles form a network and exchange information with neighbours. Vehicle failures can cause network disconnection and disruption of information exchange. Therefore, the robust k-connected network, which the network is connected even if less than k unmanned vehicles fail, is configured in a decentralized system. Each vehicle determines the velocity input according to the partial vertex connectivity, which is an evaluation of connectivity for each vehicle, and triangulation input for collision avoidance. Target search simulation in the presence of obstacles shows that the proposed robust k-connected network control law is valid.