Optimizing the location of sensors subject to health degradation

Abstract

One of the main hypotheses supporting the development of cooperative unmanned systems is that the deployment of mobile assets (sensors, weapons) in groups is expected to result in a more effective mission than if conducted with a single asset. Few researches have tackled the design of autonomous decision making for teaming UxVs (unmanned air and ground vehicles) operating under degraded conditions, even though it is common knowledge that real operations are more often than not conducted in less-than-ideal conditions. We consider a team of UxVs that have for mission to persistently monitor an area. We want to ensure they perform as best as possible assuming they are subject to a limited set of degraded conditions. We propose a model to account for variable sensor effectiveness as well as a method to optimize their placement based on a cost balancing heuristic. Numerical simulation suggests accounting for sensor effectiveness improves their placement.