Coverage control of multiple robots in cluttered three‐dimensional environments

Distributed network systems can be utilized to measure environmental conditions such as temperature, sound, pollution levels, humidity, wind, and so on. Multiple autonomously moving mobile sensors are used to construct distributed sensor networks in an unknown cluttered 3‐D workspace. The proposed strategy is to deploy mobile sensors (robots) sequentially and individually to extend the network until the network fully covers the entire open space. This strategy results in 3‐D sensor networks without sensing holes and does not require global localization of a robot except for a single robot called the Communication Navigation Aid. The authors believe this article is unique in constructing sensor networks in 3‐D workspaces cluttered with many obstacles. Moreover, this article presents an innovative recovery algorithm to handle sensor failures in the constructed network. Network connectivity is maintained while robots move in unknown 3‐D cluttered environments. Once a robot is deployed at its designated location, it becomes localized in global coordinate systems. Utilizing MATLAB, the effectiveness of the proposed deployment methods is demonstrated.