Distributed coverage of mobile heterogeneous networks in non-convex environments

The article discusses the problem of distributed deployment of the nodes in a heterogeneous mobile sensor network in order to achieve optimum coverage of a non-convex environment. The members of the network are assumed to have unequally scaled sensing abilities reflected in their maximum geodesic range. The geodesic disc allows for modelling the sensors´ reduced performance in non-visible areas. The proposed control scheme is based on proper partitioning of the space via the geodesic power distance, incorporating the reachability issue in the environment, along with the heterogeneity of the network. The mobile team is proven to lead towards a locally area optimum configuration, where restriction of the nodes in the accessible regions is guaranteed by the control framework. Simulation results indicate the efficiency of the proposed scheme, in comparison to the deployment, based on the Euclidean-metric.