An incremental deployment algorithm for mobile robot teams

Abstract

This paper describes an algorithm for deploying the members of a mobile robot team into an unknown environment. The algorithm deploys robots one-at-a-time, with each robot making use of information gathered by the previous robots to determine the next deployment location. The deployment pattern is designed to maximize the area covered by the robots' sensors, while simultaneously ensuring that the robots maintain line-of-sight contact with one another This paper describes the basic algorithm and presents results obtained from a series of experiments conducted using both real and simulated robots.