A Testbed for Multi-Domain Communication Networks Using Lego Mindstroms

摘要

Airborne networks (ANs) with flight-to-flight communication have gained significant research interests over the years, due to the advantages such as transportability, flexibility, and broad-coverage. Airborne networks can also connect with ground networks to form multi-domain communication networks, which find broad applications such as search-andrescue, the generation of on-demand disaster communication networks, etc. In order to understand the challenges on developing robust ANs and multi-domain communication networks, and to evaluate possible solutions, flight field tests are typically conducted. However, as flight tests are costly, they are not easily accessible to many AN researchers. We build a preliminary LEGO robot-based test-bed to facilitate the study of ANs and multidomain communication networks. This ground test-bed can mimic ANs and multi-domain communication networks as it captures their specific mobility patterns and communication properties. In this paper, we discuss the theory, implementation details, the results of using this test-bed for multi-domain search-and-rescue applications.