Distributed boundary estimation and monitoring

Abstract

This thesis illustrates some algorithms designed to enable a robotic sensor network to estimate a planar contour and to patrol it in a synchronized manner. The common tread of these algorithms are the tool needed to analyze and prove their correctness: consensus algorithms. In fact, the algorithms described in this thesis give rise to dynamical systems that can be easily analyzed once it is shown that they are just consensus algorithms in which inputs are present. This gives us the opportunity to extend the contribution of this thesis by studying some robustness properties of consensus algorithms with inputs.