Multi-robot searching with limited sensing range for static and mobile intruders

TL;DR

This paper addresses multi-robot search strategies with limited sensing in orthogonal polygons for static and mobile intruders, proposing algorithms that balance robot count and search time despite NP-hardness.

Contribution

It introduces novel search algorithms based on space-filling curves and random methods tailored for orthogonal polygons with limited sensing.

Findings

Algorithms effectively search for static and mobile intruders.

Trade-offs between robot number and search time are characterized.

Proposed methods are robust and computationally efficient.

Abstract

We consider the problem of searching for an intruder in a geometric domain by utilizing multiple search robots. The domain is a simply connected orthogonal polygon with edges parallel to the cartesian coordinate axes. Each robot has a limited sensing capability. We study the problem for both static and mobile intruders. It turns out that the problem of finding an intruder is NP-hard, even for a stationary intruder. Given this intractability, we turn our attention towards developing efficient and robust algorithms, namely methods based on space-filling curves, random search, and cooperative random search. Moreover, for each proposed algorithm, we evaluate the trade-off between the number of search robots and the time required for the robots to complete the search process while considering the geometric properties of the connected orthogonal search area.