Integration of sensing, computation, communication and cooperation for distributed mobile sensor networks

Abstract

This paper presents a novel semantic model and a hybrid perceptive frame approach for the integration of sensing, computation, communication and control of reconfigurable mobile sensor networks composed of a collection of mobile robotic sensing nodes. In this paper, the entire mobile sensor network is modelled as a dynamical system, which has sensing, computation, communication and locomotion capabilities. A semantic model of mobile sensor networks is proposed to describe the relationship of different sensor nodes and the corresponding multi-modal sensory information at varying abstraction levels. Based on this model, the hybrid perceptive frame describes the hybrid nature of cooperative sensor networks and integrates sensing, communication and cooperation by perceptive references and perceptive semantics. The hybrid perceptive reference frame approach allows the mobile sensor nodes to respond to the unpredictable environments and coordinate with each other based on communication and the perception of environments.