Automated Multi-Agent Search Using Centroidal Voronoi Configuration

Guruprasad, KR and Ghose, Debasish (2011) Automated Multi-Agent Search Using Centroidal Voronoi Configuration. In: IEEE Transactions on Automation Science and Engineering, 8 (2). pp. 420-423.

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Abstract

This paper addresses the problem of automated multiagent search in an unknown environment. Autonomous agents equipped with sensors carry out a search operation in a search space, where the uncertainty, or lack of information about the environment, is known a priori as an uncertainty density distribution function. The agents are deployed in the search space to maximize single step search effectiveness. The centroidal Voronoi configuration, which achieves a locally optimal deployment, forms the basis for the proposed sequential deploy and search strategy. It is shown that with the proposed control law the agent trajectories converge in a globally asymptotic manner to the centroidal Voronoi configuration. Simulation experiments are provided to validate the strategy. Note to Practitioners-In this paper, searching an unknown region to gather information about it is modeled as a problem of using search as a means of reducing information uncertainty about the region. Moreover, multiple automated searchers or agents are used to carry out this operation optimally. This problem has many applications in search and surveillance operations using several autonomous UAVs or mobile robots. The concept of agents converging to the centroid of their Voronoi cells, weighted with the uncertainty density, is used to design a search strategy named as sequential deploy and search. Finally, the performance of the strategy is validated using simulations.

Item Type:	Journal Article
Publication:	IEEE Transactions on Automation Science and Engineering
Publisher:	IEEE
Additional Information:	Copyright 2011 IEEE. Personal use of this material is permitted.However, permission to reprint/republish this material for advertising or promotional purposes or for creating new collective works for resale or redistribution to servers or lists, or to reuse any copyrighted component of this work in other works must be obtained from the IEEE.
Keywords:	Autonomous agents;cooperative systems;distributed control; multiagent search;Voronoi partitions
Department/Centre:	Division of Mechanical Sciences > Aerospace Engineering(Formerly Aeronautical Engineering)
Date Deposited:	27 Apr 2011 05:17
Last Modified:	27 Apr 2011 05:17
URI:	http://eprints.iisc.ac.in/id/eprint/37156

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