A Mobile Sensor Network Forming Concentric Circles Through Local Interaction and Consensus Building

Abstract

We address the problem of a swarm of autonomous mobile robotic sensors generating geometric shapes to build wireless ad hoc surveillance sensor networks. Robot swarms with limited observation are required to form different shapes under different task conditions. To do this, we propose decentralized coordination enabling a robot swarm dispersed across an area to form a desired shape. Our approach has n robots generate a circumscribed circle of a regular n-polygon based on local interaction with neighboring robots. The approach also enables a large robot swarm to form concentric circles through consensus. We mathematically demonstrate convergence confirming the feasibility using extensive simulation. Our results indicate that our approach is applicable to mobile sensor network surveillance and security networks.