Distributed Cooperative coverage Control of Sensor Networks

We present a distributed coverage control scheme for cooperating mobile sensor networks. The mission space is modeled using a density function representing the frequency of random events taking place, with mobile sensors operating over a limited range defined by a probabilistic model. A gradient-based algorithm is designed requiring local information at each sensor and maximizing the joint detection probabilities of random events. We also incorporate communication costs into the coverage control problem, viewing the sensor network as a multi-source, single-basestation data collection network. Communication cost is modeled as the power consumption needed to deliver collected data from sensor nodes, thus trading off sensing coverage and communication cost. The control Scheme is tested in a simulation environment to illustrate its adaptive, distributed, and asynchronous properties.