Higher order Voronoi based mobile coverage control

TL;DR

This paper extends coverage control with mobile sensors by using higher order Voronoi partitions, enabling multiple sensors to monitor the same area, and proposes a distributed gradient-based control method validated through simulations.

Contribution

It introduces a novel framework for higher order Voronoi coverage control and designs a distributed controller for multi-sensor systems to achieve local equilibrium.

Findings

Controller achieves local equilibrium in simulations

Framework applicable to real-world multi-sensor coverage scenarios

Distributed control method enhances coverage efficiency

Abstract

Most current results on coverage control using mobile sensors require that one partitioned cell is the sole responsibility of one sensor. In this paper, we consider a class of generalized Voronoi coverage control problems by using higher order Voronoi partitions, motivated by applications that more than one senor is required to monitor and cover onecell. We introduce a framework depending on a coverage performance function incorporating higher order Voronoi cells and then design a gradient-based controller which allows the multi-sensor system to achieve a local equilibrium in a distributed manner. In addition, we provide a number of real world scenarios where our framework can be applied. Simulation results are also provided to show the controller performance.