Autonomic mobile sensor network with self-coordinated task allocation and execution

This paper describes a distributed layered architecture for resource-constrained multirobot cooperation, which is utilized in autonomic mobile sensor network coverage. In the upper layer, a dynamic task allocation scheme self-organizes the robot coalitions to track efficiently across regions. It uses concepts of ant behavior to self-regulate the regional distributions of robots in proportion to that of the moving targets to be tracked in a nonstationary environment. As a result, the adverse effects of task interference between robots are minimized and network coverage is improved. In the lower task execution layer, the robots use self-organizing neural networks to coordinate their target tracking within a region. Both layers employ self-organization techniques, which exhibit autonomic properties such as self-configuring, self-optimizing, self-heating, and self-protecting. Quantitative comparisons with other tracking strategies such as static sensor placements, potential fields, and auction-based negotiation show that our layered approach can provide better coverage, greater robustness to sensor failures, and greater flexibility to respond to environmental changes.