Online Multi-object k-coverage with Mobile Smart Cameras

Abstract

In this paper, we combine k-coverage with the Cooperative Multi-robot Observation of Multiple Moving Targets problem, defining the new problem of online multi-object k-coverage. We demonstrate the benefits of mobility in tackling this and propose a decentralised multi-camera coordination that improves this further. We show that coordination exploiting shared visual features is more effective than coordination based on Euclidean distance. When coordinating k-coverage in a distributed way, our results suggest that the design of coordination mechanisms should shift towards decisions being made by potential responders with up-to-date knowledge of their own state, rather than a coordinating camera.