Asynchronous Distributed Searchlight Scheduling

TL;DR

This paper introduces and compares two asynchronous distributed algorithms for robotic searchlights in complex environments, enabling efficient detection of moving targets using local sensing and limited communication.

Contribution

It presents two novel algorithms, DOWSS and PTSS, for coordinated searchlight scheduling in nonconvex environments, improving detection time and scalability.

Findings

DOWSS is a slow but reliable search strategy.

PTSS achieves faster environment clearing with parallel sweeping.

Algorithms can be extended to environments with holes.

Abstract

This paper develops and compares two simple asynchronous distributed searchlight scheduling algorithms for multiple robotic agents in nonconvex polygonal environments. A searchlight is a ray emitted by an agent which cannot penetrate the boundary of the environment. A point is detected by a searchlight if and only if the point is on the ray at some instant. Targets are points which can move continuously with unbounded speed. The objective of the proposed algorithms is for the agents to coordinate the slewing (rotation about a point) of their searchlights in a distributed manner, i.e., using only local sensing and limited communication, such that any target will necessarily be detected in finite time. The first algorithm we develop, called the DOWSS (Distributed One Way Sweep Strategy), is a distributed version of a known algorithm described originally in 1990 by Sugihara et al \cite{KS-IS-MY:90}, but it can be very slow in clearing the entire environment because only one searchlight may slew at a time. In an effort to reduce the time to clear the environment, we develop a second algorithm, called the PTSS (Parallel Tree Sweep Strategy), in which searchlights sweep in parallel if guards are placed according to an environment partition belonging to a class we call PTSS partitions. Finally, we discuss how DOWSS and PTSS could be combined with with deployment, or extended to environments with holes.