A multi-agent flooding algorithm for search and rescue operations in unknown terrain

Abstract

In this paper we will introduce a new multi-agent algorithm for the use in search and rescue scenarios for exploration of unknown terrain. This method combines the concept of exploration from the flood algorithm and the path optimizing features of the ant algorithm. The first part leads to a fast exploration of the unknown terrain, while the second part constructs short paths from points of interest back to the base. Together this enables the starting of rescue operations parallel to the ongoing search. We demonstrate the feasibility of our approach by agent-based simulations. The simulations show, that our approach is comparable in speed and quality with already existing algorithms, delivering the additional benefit of short paths to points of interest, and adhering to the inherent limitations of these kind of scenarios. © 2013 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg.