Controlled sensor network installation with unmanned aerial vehicles

Abstract

Robots improve wireless sensor network (WSN) deployments by reducing deployment times, deploying nodes to improve coverage, and ferrying data. Utilizing Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) to install sensor networks in environmentally sensitive areas is especially valuable, as the UAVs are able to quickly traverse rough and environmentally sensitive terrain. UAV based deployments are challenging, as the UAVs may need to install nodes in a specific orientation or location type, which is difficult to sense from a UAV. We present our work towards resolving these difficulties by first classifying the surface a UAV has landed on, and then conducting a post-deployment analysis of the installation.