Cooperative sensor deployment for multi‐target monitoring

Abstract

Abstract In this paper, the problem of deploying multiple sensor agents (MSAs) to monitor multiple stationary targets is studied. First, the problem is modelled as a special version of the general set‐covering problem. Then a novel motion control scheme is introduced to handle the nonlinear, non‐smooth and non‐additive nature of the multiple objectives that form the cost function in this type of sensor deployment problems. Based on that, a cooperative MSA deployment algorithm is developed. A lower bound for the optimal solution of the set‐covering problem is also derived. Simulation results are presented, demonstrating that given sufficient initial MSA resource, the proposed algorithm is able to lead the MSAs from an arbitrary initial configuration to a final coalition that only requires a near‐minimum number of MSAs to maintain the coverage of the targets. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.