Effective coverage control for mobile sensor networks with guaranteed collision avoidance

This paper studies the problem of dynamically covering a given region in the plane using a set of mobile sensor agents. A novel problem formulation is proposed that addresses a number of important multiagent missions. The coverage goal, which is to cover a given search domain using multiple mobile sensors such that each point is surveyed until a certain preset level is achieved, is formulated in a mathematically precise problem statement. A control law is developed that guarantees to meet the coverage goal. This control law is modified to guarantee that a partially connected fleet also attains the coverage. goal. Finally, a collision avoidance component is added to the controller to guarantee that the agents do not collide. The new controller is shown to safely achieve coverage. Several numerical examples are provided to illustrate the main results.