Robotic Routers: Algorithms and Implementation

Abstract

Mobile robots equipped with wireless networking capabilities can act as robotic routers and provide network connectivity to mobile users. Robotic routers provide cost-efficient solutions for the deployment of a wireless network in a large environment with a limited number of users. In this paper, we present motion planning algorithms for robotic routers to maintain the connectivity of a single user to a base station. We consider two motion models for the user. In the first model, the user’s motion is known in advance. In the second model, the user moves in an adversarial fashion and tries to break the connectivity. We present optimal motion planning strategies for both models. We also present details of a proof-of-concept implementation.

Keywords

networked robotics path planning for multiple mobile robots controlled mobility

Get full access to this article

View all access options for this article.

References

Baker, M.G. , Zhao, X. , Cheshire, S. , and Stone, J. ( 1996). Supporting mobility in MosquitoNet. ATEC ’96: Proceedings of the 1996 annual conference on USENIX Annual Technical Conference. Berkeley, CA, USENIX Association.

Bhattacharya, S. , Candido, S. and Hutchinson, S. ( 2007). Motion strategies for surveillance. Proceedings of Robotics: Science and Systems, Atlanta, GA, USA.

Cheshire, S. and Baker, M. ( 1996). A wireless network in MosquitoNet. IEEE Micro, 16(1): 44-52.

Clausen, T. and Jacquet, P. ( 2003). Optimized link state routing protocol (OLSR). Request for Comments 3626.

Clausen, T.H. , Hansen, G. , Christensen, L. , and Behrmann, G. ( 2001). The optimized link state routing protocol, evaluation through experiments and simulation. Proceeding of the Fourth International Symposium on Wireless Personal Multimedia Communications, MindPass Center for Distributed Systems, Aalborg University .

Dixon, C. and Frew, E.W. ( 2007). Maintaining optimal communication chains in robotic sensor networks using mobility control. First International Conference on Robot Communication and Coordination (ROBOCOMM), Athens, Greece.

Ganguli, A. , Cortes, J. and Bullo, F. ( 2006). Multirobot rendezvous with visibility sensors in nonconvex environments. IEEE Transactions on Robotics, 25(2): 340-352.

Ikeda, M. , De Marco, G. , Barollif, L. and Takizawa, M. ( 2008). A BAT in the lab: experimental results of new link state routing protocol. Proceedings of the 22nd International Conference on Advanced Information Networking and Applications, 2008 (AINA 2008), pp. 295- 302.

LaValle, S.M. , González-Baños, H.H. , Becker, C. and Latombe, J.-C. (1997). Motion strategies for maintaining visibility of a moving target. Proceedings IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation, pp. 731- 736.

10.

Lin, Z. , Broucke, M. and Francis, B. ( 2004). Local control strategies for groups of mobile autonomous agents. IEEE Transactions on Automatic Control , 49(4): 622-639.

11.

Murrieta-Cid, R. , Tovar, B. and Hutchinson, S. ( 2005). A sampling-based motion planning approach to maintain visibility of unpredictable targets. Autonomous Robots, 19(3): 285-300.

12.

Perkins, C. , Belding-Royer, E. and Das, S. ( 2003). Ad hoc on-demand distance vector (AODV) routing. Request for Comments 3561.

13.

Stump, E. , Jadbabaie, A. and Kumar, V. ( 2008). Connectivity management in mobile robot teams . Proceedings IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation , pp. 1525-1530.

14.

Tekdas, O. and Isler, V. ( 2008). Robotic routers. Proceedings IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation, pp. 1513-1518.

15.

Zavlanos, M.M. and Pappas, G.J. ( 2007). Flocking while preserving network connectivity . IEEE Conference on Decision and Control.