Pincer-Based vs. Same-Direction Strategies of Search for Smart Evaders by Swarms of Agents
Roee M. Francos, Alfred M. Bruckstein

TL;DR
This paper compares pincer-based and same-direction search strategies for detecting smart evaders using swarms of agents, demonstrating that pincer strategies outperform in search time and critical speed requirements.
Contribution
It introduces and analyzes pincer-movement search strategies, proving their superiority over same-direction methods in terms of efficiency and speed constraints.
Findings
Pincer strategies have lower total search times than same-direction strategies.
Spiral pincer sweep can detect all evaders at near-optimal speeds.
Pincer strategies require a lower critical speed for successful search.
Abstract
Suppose in a given planar region, there are smart mobile evaders and we want to detect them using sweeping agents. We assume that the agents have line sensors of equal length. We propose procedures for designing cooperative sweeping processes that ensure successful completion of the task, thereby deriving conditions on the sweeping speed of the agents and their paths. Successful completion of the task means that evaders with a known limit on their speed cannot escape the sweeping agents. A simpler task for the sweeping swarm is the confinement of the evaders to their initial domain. The feasibility of completing these tasks depends on geometric and dynamic constraints that impose a lower bound on the speed the sweeping agent must have. This critical speed is derived to ensure the satisfaction of the confinement task. Increasing the speed above the lower bound enables the agents to…
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Taxonomy
TopicsOptimization and Search Problems · Robotic Path Planning Algorithms · Distributed Control Multi-Agent Systems
