Decentralized self-repair to maintain connectivity and coverage in networked multi-robot systems

Abstract

We present a suite of algorithms that enable a team of mobile robots to repair connectivity in a wireless mesh network. Each robot carries a wireless router and can act as a mobile access point. The algorithms are distributed, with each robot computing it's trajectory using its position, the positions of its neighbors within communication range, and the position of a gateway node. The algorithms are validated via an analytical model as well as field experiments with 7 Create robots.