Distributed coverage control for mobile robots with limited-range sector sensors

Abstract

This paper presents a distributed cooperative algorithm for a network of mobile robots to cover an unknown domain in the presence of fixed and yet unknown obstacles. Sensors of mobile robot are considered limited-range. The performance of this sensor model depends not only on distance but also on the orientation of the sensor to the target. Moreover, the visibility range of the sensors is considered as a sector of a circle. By assuming a fixed sensing angle for mobile robots, a gradient-based distributed algorithm is designed to maximize the coverage area which guarantees collisions avoidance. Simulations are provided to illustrate the performance of the proposed approach.